More Than a Straw This Time

She pulled her suitcase through the entrance hall, her eyes bloodshot. All she wanted to do was leave without a sound, disappear into the dark night before she'd fully realize the weight of pregnancy and no where to go to survive for the rest of the cruel night.

But as she approached the huge doors at the front, they flung open themselves.

Bright white light covered her sight followed by endless cameras flashing violently and frequently, like they had just been unleashed.

A bunch of reporters were already pre-informed and available, probably hired by someone ahead of time. Her head throbbed a bit from all the noise.

She squinted her eyes to see clearly. Right in the middle of the chaos, with arms folded proudly like she just won a huge lottery was Charlotte, Carl's sister.

"Oh, you're leaving?" Charlotte began kindly with a poisonous dryness at the end of her speech.

"Go away, Charlie!" Emily said failing to shield her face properly from the lenses her hands were barely enough.

"You've helped your biggest fan with her dream man and the money. Can I just go now?"

"Go?" Charlotte scoffed, gesturing at the paparazzi around the place. "They're here for a beautiful moment".

Emily, did not need another word to confirm, she was certainly the one who tipped and set this up.

Then she faced a camera properly,

"Oh, Emily, just don't take what's not yours next time, okay? You denied your beloved sister the chance to live a perfect life with her true love, you also framed my brother into marrying you because he was a gold mine and you were ....a digger!"

"What the f**k are you even talking about?" Emily said calmly. She already swallowed a lot of shit inside before coming out to break at this one anyways. She justed wanted to get going but a bunch of desperate camera men kept obstructing her view and space, she almost stumbled once.

One of the female reporters dashed a microphone at her mouth. "Mrs, Sorry ...Ms Truce Did you marry Mr Ben for his wealth, is it true? Did you loot his account of $500 million before leaving?"

"Carl had to marry me because Emila refused and I didn't take a cent!" Emily yelled, looking back at door, there was no one there, then she looked forward again at Charlotte, who by now was standing just some inches away from her and clearly enjoying the sight of her panic.

"Charlotte, tell them the truth! Tell them I didn't take anything, you were with me inside, you know I didn't take anything!"

Charlotte walked towards her gingerly, her hand slithering towards the outer right pocket of Emily's bag. She made into it quickly and pulled out her phone.

"Ms Truce swear before the press that you took no money with you from the family's bank account?"

"Yes! I swear! I didn't take anything" Emily defended, enraged and red by now. Was she calling her a freaking thief?

She tapped the phone's screen lightly and shoved it in Emily's face broadly to unlock it.

"Look! her account says $500 million! she stole the money! My brother made sure she had nothing before she left and here's the proof of transaction!" She screamed throwing the phone's screen at the camera.

The crowd gasped. The flashes rose like stars exploding in the galaxy.

"My Gosh! Emily" Charlotte's expression dulled,the queen of pretence. "Even on your way out, you still had to rob him? After all he did for you, you still had to take what was his? You still had to take a third of his account with you, how poor must you be to want money this much?"

"How dare you frame me up for robbing Carl?!" Emily screamed, reaching desperately for her phone from her hand.

The door flew open again with rage and Carl stepped out with Emila behind. He made straight for Emily and gripped her arm with a wounding power.

"That's enough," Carl ordered, his voice was loud enough to bring the shouting press to a calm. He looked at the phone in Charlotte hand, then back at her with pure horror and saturated hatred. Suddenly, she wasn't invisible to him anymore.

"I only wanted you to leave calmly Emily, But you're a thief just like everyone says. You're a wicked liar, a betrayer, and a motherf*cking gold digger"

"Carl, please... Just let me…. It's over with us. You will regret all this! Every last one of you!" she screamed with an ache in her head, tears welling up in her eyes and threatening to rain down my cheeks. Even if told him she's pregnant he won’t believe.

"I'm..." the word tried to slip out with her thoughts but I bit them down her tongue immediately and swallowed.

The reporters went silent for a nanosecond before erupting into another loud chaos. At once she knew she was going to be all over the news by now. Carl didn't bath an eyelash. Instead, he leaned in close to her ear, his voice a sharp breath behind it.

"Do you think you can live without me or my money? You took my love from me, tricked me into marrying a Godforsaken fool like you and now you'll have the freedom to try and find someone better than me. Be damned in the abyss, Emily. If I ever see you again around here especially, I'll make sure rot in jail for your crimes"

He said pushing her toward the gate. Charlotte stepped aside so she could land roughly on the iron edge, Emila had a smile as she stood behind Carl. She was the root of all evil, a small, triumphant smirk played on her lips as she watched her wobble towards the iron clad gates.

"Thief!" someone in the crowd shouted.

"Bitch!" another added sharply.

"Fool!" the third person spat.

"Trash!"

The were more but her ears were kind enough to shut them out at this moment.

The sky above thundered it should've been 9pm by now

She ran forward never looking back, through the rain, she had abandoned her suitcase at the spot before the female reporters walked in, the laughter and mockery of the reporters echoed in her ears as she tried to shake them all off. If this was a dream she only wished to wake up quick but she had pinched herself hard enough to bleed and nothing pulled her out of the scene. Her own sister had set her up. My husband had condemned her. Her sister-in-law remained a pawn on their chess board and was happy to be. She fueled the betrayal and humiliation.

She collapsed under a bus stop some blocks away from the mansion. Her clothes soaked clinging to her skin, transparent.

Her heart crushed to a thousand pieces, irreparable. She clutched my stomach, thinking of the thing growing in her, the only thing and hope she had left in the world. They had taken everything from her, even the ones that belonged her, she had but the clothes she had on. Nothing else.

"I'll find a place for us, they're all going to come begging," she mumbled through soft sobs, soon, her voice froze into something different, something cold, sharp and piercing. "I'll make them pay with their blood, every last one of them. I'll make them crawl at my feet and crumble for a mercy only their lives can pay for!."