CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 1

“You murderer!”

A resounding slap followed those words from Katrina’s Mother-in-law. The entire extended family gasped in shock but no one made a move to help. Not even Katrina’s husband, Damon Winchester.

He just stood there, watching lazily, like he always did while his mother berated her for every little thing.

But this wasn’t little, no.

This was more than the fine china dishes that were one of the family’s heirlooms which Katrina broke last thanksgiving and earned her harsh insults from her mother-in-law.

This was nothing like the family dinner she made last Christmas that caused half the kitchen to catch fire, needing a renovation.

This couldn't be compared to that afternoon in summer, when she knocked over the antique vase while dusting, freezing as it cracked clean down the middle and her mother-in-law murmured that Katrina’s touch spoiled anything of value.

No.

This was the death of the only woman who loved someone as unlovable as Katrina. The woman who raised her. The woman who constantly fought for Katrina’s place in the Winchester dynasty even when she didn’t belong.

Alana Winchester, Damon’s grandmother.

Like every other thing, it was all her fault. Everything Katrina touched turned to ashes. First, it was her parents who died in that fire everybody blamed her for when she was just eight years old.

And now, her foster grandmother was also a pile of ashes, laying inside a funeral urn that her mother-in-law was hugging tightly while glaring daggers at her. Katrina waited for another hit to come. Or maybe a dozen more if it would be enough to trigger her tear gland that has refused to work since Alana’s death.

She hadn’t shed a single tear from the very moment she walked into the house three days ago and found Alana sprawled at the foot of the stairs. Nor had she broken down like everyone else did at the hospital where Alana was proclaimed dead by the doctors.

The funeral was held two hours ago and watching her being lowered into the ground still didn’t make Katrina wail and mourn. Even Damon, her husband, known for his indifference towards a lot of things, could barely hide his red eyes during the funeral.

But Katrina’s grief was quiet in a way that numbed her and angered everyone else.

“You have been nothing but useless all your life. All you’ve done is mooch off my mother and our family. And when you finally had to repay her, you killed her instead!” Katrina’s Mother-in-law didn’t slap her again like she hoped, but her words hit harder than a physical blow.

“Sarah , for the last time, will you calm down? You’re being so hard on the poor girl. She didn’t push mom down those stairs, we all saw the CCTV footage.”

The quiet chiding voice belonged to Andrew, Sarah ’s younger brother who was in the huge living room with his own family as well. The whole Winchester flock was there; uncles, aunties, cousins, grandnephews and nieces. Katrina was the odd one out. The one who never belonged even when she married the wealthiest of them all and took his name.

She was grateful that her mother-in-law was the only one cursing her out because she could only deal with one Winchester at a time.

“She might as well have. Where were you while she was struggling to get down those stairs herself? You had one job and that was to stay by her side at all times.”

Sarah didn’t relent, instead, her accusations got bolder.

“Perhaps you let it happen just so you could be free of taking care of an old woman who just wouldn’t die! Maybe you knew she was going to give this entire estate to you after her death but you just couldn’t wait could you? You needed to get your grabby hands on it!”

“I didn’t know about the estate, Sarah . I swear.” Katrina finally spoke for the first time since her mother-in-law’s rage began.

“A liar! That’s what you are!”

That morning, before the funeral, the family lawyer had read Alana’s will out to the entire family. That was the first time Katrina, like everyone else, learnt that the Winchester family estate had been willed to her,

How? Why? She’d asked herself so many times. Alana shared everything with Katrina up until her death, but never mentioned anything about a written will that gave Katrina ownership over a house that’s been around for generations.

Katrina didn’t even want the property. How could she covet something so precious? What had an orphan like her done, to deserve such? She wasn’t a true Winchester. She would never be. The real ones could have the estate for all she cared.

But no one seemed to care about the property as much as her mother-in-law did. Every single Winchester was wealthy in their own right and most of them obviously couldn’t wait to go back to the city to continue their lives.

“Now, listen to me, you leech. You will never have this place, do you understand? I don’t care that your name is on the estate papers, YOU WILL NOT OWN MY FAMILY HOME!”

“Sarah —” Katrina wanted to tell Sarah that she didn’t want it. She never wanted their money. All she ever wanted was to feel like she belonged somewhere. A part of a large, loving family.

“Don’t you dare call my name!” Sarah ’s hand was raising again. Katrina braced herself for the inevitable hit but the voice of her husband stopped it before it could happen.

“Mom, that is enough.”

Damon’s voice commanded a chilling silence. Everyone’s attention shifted to him and several eyes watched him in expectation of his next move. Even Katrina wasn’t left out. Her husband had that effect on people. An unexplainable charisma that made them hang on his every word even when it made no sense to them.

“That is enough.” He repeated once he got his mother’s attention and she stepped away from Katrina, still fuming. “Yes, this is upsetting. But it is also disrespectful to grandma. She wouldn’t want this, and you know it.”

Of course, Katrina knew he didn’t stop his mother from hitting her again because he was worried for her. He had always been indifferent towards her, long before their marriage of three years.

“Just like I didn’t want you to marry a girl with no roots but you did anyway. We don’t all get what we want now, do we?” Sarah retorted, pointing at Katrina.

“We will handle this like civilized people.” Damon’s voice remained calm despite what his mother had just said about his marriage and his supposed wife.

“Then I guess I am uncivilized because I won’t let a rat like her have this place. To hell with what my mother thinks. I give you three days to hand over the documents of the estate once the lawyer sends it.” Sarah gave Katrina one last dirty look after those words before marching out of the living room, the urn clutched tightly to her chest.

Slowly and quietly, every member of the family stood and followed suit. Until Katrina was left all alone with one person. Her husband. It was just the two of them, and yet, the room felt more suffocating than when so many people were in it.

Damon looked like he wanted to say something to her but decided against it. Silently, he turned away too and left. Now, Katrina was truly alone. Left with her thoughts that were so overwhelming.

She had to get out of that estate. She wanted no part of it and as soon as the Lawyer contacted her again, she would let him know just that. She went into her room and packed her things hastily. By evening, she was already in the backseat of an Uber, heading back to the city.

Katrina had been away from the city for one year. She couldn’t forget that night Damon came home from work and told her Alana was ill and was refusing to be sent to a nursing home. Worried to death, Katrina had quit everything, including her job as an elementary school teacher, and moved into the estate to take care of Alana.

To her, that one year was nothing compared to the fifteen years that Alana had taken care of her since she took her in. But all of that had now been reduced to nothing. The only person she mattered to was gone and now she was going back to life as Damon Winchester’s wife.

The Uber dropped her off at Damon’s exquisite house in the city after twenty five minutes. Then she lugged her heavy luggages one after the other towards the front door.

She inputted the door code to open it but it was invalid. Confused, she tried again but it still didn’t budge. For a brief moment, she thought she must have forgotten the code. One year was a long time.

Katrina decided to knock instead. Damon was probably at home already and as much as she wanted to avoid coming face to face with him again that night, she had no choice.

She knocked a few more times before the door opened. And when it did, the person who stood at the other side of the door wasn’t Katrina’s husband.

It was a beautiful woman who looked at Katrina like someone who had lost her way. Someone who had come to the wrong place and not her matrimonial home.

“Who are you?” The woman asked.