One year ago, my sister pushed me down the stairs and killed my unborn baby. However, instead of mourning his own child, my husband chose to bring the murderer into our home. With her crocodile tears and fake kindness, she successfully moved in and bit by bit pushed me out of existence. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, she got pregnant. And that man — the same man who stood coldly by when I suffered the miscarriage — promised my sister he would raise her baby like his own.
view moreELISHA’S POV
One year ago today, I lost my daughter, Carrie.
She hadn’t been born yet… it didn’t matter. I knew it was a girl, and I knew I’d name her Carrie.
In the quiet, pastel pink and mint green nursery, I sat on the rocking chair and folded her clothes.
Again.
For the hundred-millionth time.
As if it would dull reality and make my fantasy come alive.
The sharp ring of the doorbell startled me. I glanced at the tiny onesie slipping from my fingers and stood quickly.
Anthony probably forgot his key again.
I hurried down the stairs and swung open the front door, ready to tease my husband for his memory, ready to pretend everything was fine.
But Anthony Möller wasn’t alone.
My sister Natalie stood beside him, glowing like sunshine. “Hey, sis. Anthony invited me to crash here for a while!”
She didn’t wait for an answer, breezing past me into the foyer as Anthony trailed behind, lugging two massive duffel bags that he dropped heavily onto the floor. He didn’t meet my eyes.
How long was “a while”?
Why was she here?
My throat tightened.
How could my husband bring home the woman who killed our baby?
Natalie spun around, grinning with false sweetness. “So? Where’s my room?”
The question lingered between us like poison.
I watched as Anthony motioned for the butler to pick up his bags and show Natalie the guest rooms.
Natalie was my parents’ biological daughter. She had gone missing twenty years ago, which devastated our mother. On the brink of taking her own life, our father adopted me from an orphanage.
As some sort of replacement.
They named me Elisha… Elisha Montgomery.
I was raised by a wealthy family in a wealthy neighborhood and had a life most people only dream of. Good parents, a loving brother, a great school, all the bags, shoes, cars, and vacations a girl could dream of.
And we spent most of our time with the Möller family. Together, our families had several businesses and practically owned the city we lived in.
I believed I was the happiest, luckiest little girl in the world.
But two years ago… Natalie came back. Every DNA test confirmed that she was, indeed, my parents’ real child.
Cameras flashed outside the mansion gates. Reporters buzzed with excitement, chasing the tragic fairytale reunion: “Missing Montgomery heiress found after twenty years.”
My mother sobbed into Natalie’s shoulder like she’d never stopped waiting for this moment, while my father stood behind them, too stunned to speak, his hand trembling on the staircase railing.
The Möllers stood by my parents in solidarity, thrilled and relieved that we were finally reunited.
I stood in the back as the relentless barrage of questions hit both families.
But I wasn’t upset about that. After all, Natalie deserved her moment.
But things didn’t exactly go back to normal after that…
Soon enough, I became an afterthought. First, it was like I didn’t exist. Then, it became like I was a nuisance. A burden.
I was being tolerated, while Natalie was being endlessly celebrated. Any new family photos that were taken after her return, my grandparents insisted I stay out so they could capture the “real” family. My mother would only shoot me an apologetic glance, but never come to my defense.
Nobody did.
It made me feel like I was a thief. Someone who snuck in, stole someone’s life, and was now just around because she couldn’t be thrown away.
Even Anthony, whom I had married years before, was technically promised to her by the Möllers.
Out of guilt, I tried to spend time getting to know her. My long-lost sister. Nat. When she was showered with love and praises, I joined in. I was just happy to have a sister.
But she didn’t feel the same way about me.
She had little inside jokes with Anthony. Her compliments to me were always backhanded, making comments about my clothes, my hair, or my body. I’d find the gifts I gave her in the trash. She started taking over any rituals or routines I had with my parents—tea time with my mother, playing golf with my father.
Bit by bit, she pushed me out of existence.
I snapped back to the present as Anthony came up behind me, his arms slipping around my waist.
“You’ve seemed so down lately,” he murmured softly. “I thought having your sister here might cheer you up.”
Sister.
The word felt like window dressing on a trash can.
I moved out of his embrace, turning to look at him. “Did you forget what today is?”
His expression darkened momentarily, then smoothed again. “It’s been a year. Isn’t it time we all moved on?”
Easy words for someone who hadn’t bled.
A year ago, I suffered a miscarriage, three months into my pregnancy.
All because Natalie bumped me from the top of the staircase in Anthony’s parents’ home.
She’d cried convincingly. Everyone believed her tears, even Anthony. They all saw it as a tragic, horrible accident.
But I still remembered the cold triumph flickering in her eyes just before it happened. The smug smile she gave me as her hands stretched out in front of her, and I tumbled downward.
Anthony had never cared for the child; it hardly pained him. It hardly affected anyone in the family.
I was left alone in my grief. Left alone to mourn.
All because Natalie decided an unborn baby wasn’t as important as her being the center of attention with the Montgomerys and Möllers.
Nat walked back to where we were, smiling ear to ear. “I love the room! I’m hitting the pool until lunch. Anthony?”
He smiled. “Pool sounds great.”
I watched them disappear together, Natalie chattering away, Anthony listening with focus and softness I had never seen.
It stung more than it should have.
I turned, heading back upstairs. I wanted solitude, the nursery, quiet grief.
But Natalie’s voice sliced through the quiet again as she popped around the corner, blocking my escape.
“Hey!”
I turned around to look at her questioningly, not caring to hide my annoyance.
“Anthony said you should help set up my room!” she said brightly.
We had people for that—staff who were paid to handle these things. But Natalie didn’t want efficiency; she wanted me humbled.
“Sure,” I said softly, swallowing my pride. “I’ll handle it.”
She flashed another bright, empty smile, vanishing toward the pool.
I made my way to the guestrooms and saw the maid already setting up. Quietly, I helped her lay the sheets flat and put the duvet on.
After finishing up, I stepped onto the balcony for fresh air. Just one quiet breath before returning to my grief.
The air was thick with summer heat, tinged with the sharp scent of chlorine and coconut sunscreen. Laughter echoed from the pool, distant and shrill, as sunlight flickered through the trees in golden patches. The stone railing burned warm beneath my palms. A soft breeze stirred my hair, but it didn’t cool me.
Nothing did.
I stared at the sky until it blurred, the world moving on around me while I stayed frozen in that one moment—falling, bleeding, breaking.
But from the patio below, Natalie’s voice drifted up, clear as crystal, her words a dagger straight into my heart:
“So… if my sister weren’t around… you would’ve married me, right?”
ELISHA’S POVAnthony stared at the folder in his hands. I watched the line of his jaw tighten, the flicker in his eyes like a match about to catch.And then—A cold, hollow laugh.Without hesitation, he ripped the divorce papers in half. Then again. And again. Until the edges fluttered like confetti to the floor. He walked to the bin and threw the pieces in as casually as if they were junk mail.I stood frozen.It wasn’t the drama of it that stunned me. It was the indifference. Like it meant nothing. Like I meant nothing.“I spent months preparing that,” I said, quieter than I meant to. “If you don’t like the terms, we can talk about it.”Anthony turned slowly, a shadow darkening his face.“You think the terms are the problem?” he sneered. “You think you get to walk away from this marriage?” I didn’t answer. The question wasn’t rhetorical, but it wasn’t honest either.He stepped forward.And then again.Until I felt the cold press of the wall behind my back.His hands didn’t touch me
ELISHA’S POVI would’ve tried again. I really would have.For another baby. Another heartbeat. Another beginning.If Anthony had been someone worth building that future with.But he wasn’t.Not after the way he acted. Not after the way he vanished from the moment I needed him most. Not after he let them all say it was just an accident—that what Natalie did to me was just bad timing.He wasn’t cruel in the obvious ways. He didn’t scream or storm out or cheat in the dark. No—his version of cruelty was quieter.He ignored grief. Minimized it.Smiled at the right times and still managed to miss everything that mattered.I could’ve lived with the insults for the rest of my life, honestly. The family coldness. Even the loneliness. Because I was always meant to be a Möller bride, and divorce was simply not an option. But… my baby deserved better.My child deserved a father who would’ve driven through a hurricane to be at my side, not one who left me bleeding alone while buying someone else
ELISHA’S POVThe pain sat in my chest like a stone. Not sharp. Not sudden. Just heavy.I stood still as the workmen brushed past me, carrying out box after box. My boxes. My baby’s things. They didn’t know, and they didn’t care. I was just another woman in a big house, watching someone else’s decision unfold in front of her.“You know,” Natalie said, arms crossed, her voice casual, “if you had any sense, you’d leave already.”I looked at her. She wore that same expression she always did when she thought she’d won something—smug, a little too relaxed. Like none of this was personal. Like it was all just… logistics.I didn’t speak right away. I wasn’t sure what part of me she expected to answer—the grieving mother, the discarded wife, the woman whose name was still on the deed but no longer mattered inside her own home.I stepped forward, slow and steady. I wasn’t angry yet. Not in the screaming way.“Nat,” I said quietly, “you don’t even know who your baby’s father is.”The smirk disa
ELISHA’S POV“I was at the clinic with the puppy,” I said slowly.Anthony just stood there, arms crossed, jaw tight. The kind of posture you take when you're trying to look angry but you're actually trying not to explode. His eyes scanned me—face, hair, the small carrier at my feet.He narrowed his gaze. “With that vet?”There it was.I blinked at him. “Yes. With Robert.”“So let me get this straight.” He took a step closer, voice tightening. “Your sister gets hospitalized after almost losing her baby—your fault, by the way—and you spend the whole night with some strange man and a dog?”My jaw clenched. Not because of what he said. But because he meant it.I looked at him for a long second.“I didn’t push her,” I said quietly.He didn’t respond right away. His nostrils flared like he was gearing up for another accusation.And then—“Elisha?” Natalie’s voice floated in from somewhere down the hallway. Weak, breathy, strategically timed.Anthony’s gaze flicked away.Of course.I reache
ELISHA’S POVThe sound of the slap echoed long after it happened.My face tilted from the force, my breath catching in my throat.I didn’t move. I couldn’t.The side of my cheek throbbed—hot, raw, shocked. But nothing compared to the sting in my chest.I slowly turned my head to look at him—really look.Dominic. My older brother. The one who used to walk me home from school. The one who taught me how to parallel park. The one who promised we’d be a family no matter what.Now, his hand had left a mark on me.He didn’t even flinch.Everyone in the corridor stared, but none of them spoke. Not my mother, who was wringing her hands like a fragile little bird. Not my father, who looked like he’d already checked out of this moment, back stiff with shame—not for what they had done, but for how loud it had all gotten.Natalie stood at the door, lower lip trembling like a bad actress with too much screen time.And me—well, I wasn’t even part of the family photo anymore.I could feel the wall be
ELISHA’S POVThe ambulance doors slammed shut before I could speak. I stood still on the sidewalk, barely able to blink. I looked down at Bubblegum, cradled trembling in my arms. She whimpered faintly, her eyes unfocused. Her breathing was fast. Too fast.My chest tightened.She hadn’t barked once since it happened. Not even a growl. I didn't know what she had seen or felt when Natalie kicked at her—whether it had been fear, shock, or pain—but she wasn’t the same.“I’m so sorry,” I whispered against her soft fur, walking toward my car as fast as I could without jostling her. “Just hang in there, okay? I’ve got you.”I barely remembered the drive. My fingers clutched the wheel so tightly my knuckles stayed white the whole way. I ran two red lights. The emergency lane at Robert’s clinic was thankfully empty when I skidded into it.Robert met me at the door before I even had time to ring the bell. He must’ve seen the look on my face.“Again?” he asked, his voice low, concerned, not ev
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