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?”
ANTHONY’S POVI closed the door to the study behind me and exhaled deeply, the kind of breath that comes only after days of tension starts to ease.She was warming up to me again.Elisha.After everything—after the silence, the coldness, the pushing me away—she’d kissed me last night. She’d made my lunch, called me back home, and hugged me at the door like she didn’t want me to leave. She made oysters, of all things. She knew what that meant to me. And she let me hold her like she used to, pulled me to bed like we were still... us.I smiled, wide and unfiltered.Whatever the rough patch was, it was over. Maybe the crash and all that drama with her sister had brought her back to me. Or maybe she was finally coming to her senses. Either way, last night… something shifted.Sure, I’d passed out before the night could really finish. I barely remembered how things ended. But when I woke up and saw her clothes scattered across the floor, her hair spilled on the pillow, I didn’t need a memor
ELISHA’S POVThe key was back in his pocket before he even stirred.I eased it in gently, fingers slipping it into the familiar right side of his trousers as he breathed in a slow, wine-drenched rhythm. He didn’t move. Not once. Not when I unfastened the buttons, not when I removed them entirely. Just a faint sigh, maybe. A twitch of his foot.I shed my clothes too, quickly but deliberately, draping them beside the bed like they’d fallen there after a night of passion. Then I slid under the covers next to him, staying just close enough so when he woke up, his first sight would be me—bare skin, tousled hair, lips parted in sleep.Let him assume what he wanted to assume.It was manipulative. Maybe cruel. But I was past caring about optics. If pretending we’d had sex bought me even an inch of softness, of breathing room, then fine.Let him believe it.I slept like a free woman that night. Or as close to it as I could feel.***By morning, the air in the house had shifted. The tension
ELISHA’S POVAs if locking me in this house like some antique heirloom weren’t enough, Anthony had taken away my phone, too.No warning. No conversation. Just gone.I hadn’t even noticed it was missing at first. I’d been too busy thinking of exits, watching the way the guards rotated near the garage, and timing how long it took the cook to leave the kitchen for her smoke breaks. But two days after the hospital, when I finally reached for it out of habit—when I realized it wasn’t in my coat pocket or nightstand or even plugged in where I usually left it—I knew.He’d taken it.He didn’t say it outright. He just tightened the control a little more each day. And then one morning, when I was walking past the study, I saw it.It was only a second. The door was slightly ajar. I glimpsed the inside of the desk drawer as he pulled it open to grab a pen, and there—tucked to the side, screen dark but unmistakable—was my phone.My breath caught.He shut the drawer and locked it with a smooth cli
ELISHA’S POVThe lock clicked.Not just on the front door, but in my chest.The sound had become familiar. Sharp. Final. One of the bodyguards would nod slightly as it turned, as if to apologize. But there was no apology in the motion itself—just quiet obedience to orders.Orders Anthony had given.I stood by the windowsill in the sunroom, watching them like a prisoner watches guards from the yard. The garden outside was as serene as ever—manicured hedges, pale rose bushes in bloom, the quiet rustle of leaves. A perfectly composed lie of peace.Inside, I felt nothing but fury.He didn’t yell at me this time. When I’d tried to argue—really argue—he hadn’t matched my anger. Hadn’t lost his temper or raised his voice. Instead, he’d stood still, arms crossed, face unreadable.“You’re not going anywhere,” he said simply. “Don’t waste your energy.”There was no drama. No fight to win. Just that flat, emotionless decree.And somehow, that hurt more than yelling ever could.I’d tried to sneak
ADAM’S POVNo sooner had I slammed the door shut and buckled myself into the backseat than Elijah launched at me.“What the hell were you thinking?” he snapped, twisting around from the driver’s seat, eyes blazing. “You know better than to get into a fight between a husband and a wife!”I leaned back, seething, heart still pounding from what had just happened.“Ex,” I snapped. “Ex-wife.”Elijah shook his head, disappointed and furious. “Doesn’t matter. That’s not your fight. It’s not your business, Adam. You had no right to get involved.”I scoffed. “Are you kidding? You were there. You saw the way he talked to her.”“That doesn’t mean you get to throw yourself into the middle of it.”I clenched my jaw. “I care about her.”“Says who? Since when?”“She’s like a sister to me.”Elijah let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “Sister? Oh, we’re still on that?”I said nothing.He turned to face forward, shaking his head again.“You don’t even hear how strange you sound,” he muttered.“She looks l
ELISHA’S POVThe ride to the hospital was silent.Adam sat next to me, his hands clasped tightly together in his lap, occasionally glancing my way—but he didn’t speak. I couldn’t have responded if he had. My ears were ringing too loudly, my heart slamming against my ribs like it was trying to shatter them from the inside out.I wanted to throw up. I wanted to cry. But mostly, I just wanted to disappear.No matter how cruel Natalie had been, how twisted and calculated her actions were… nobody deserved to lose a child. And I knew, all too well, what it did to a body. To a mind. How the grief came in unexpected flashes and long, slow burns. How the silence after the blood was the most unbearable part of it all.After the paramedics had rushed her away from the scene, Adam dealt with the police and spoke with the insurance adjuster while I sat on the side, dazed. We walked into the hospital and were promptly directed to Natalie’s room. The closer I got, the more suffocating the hallway
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