Chapter 4

Emma POV 

I couldn't connect the woman I was hearing with Sophie. My Sophie. It didn't make sense.

Ever since the Bennetts took me in and I met her, I'd always thought she was this sweet, generous person. Elegant and kind. Gentle in every way. But now...

"I'm so angry I could scream!" Sophie's voice rose, sharp and bitter. "I spent so much time planning everything perfectly. I even got Dylan to drink that spiked drink. I had reporters ready to come photograph everything first thing in the morning so there'd be proof that I'd spent the night with him. That way Mr. Carter would have to let me marry Dylan. But I screwed up the stupid room number! I ended up sleeping with some disgusting random guy instead, and Emma, that pathetic little tramp, accidentally got everything I worked for!"

So that was the truth. That was the real face of the "good sister" who'd been crying and begging everyone to show me mercy just minutes ago.

My heart was racing so fast I felt dizzy. I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. The emotion bubbling up in my chest felt almost hysterical.

This was Dylan's precious darling. The one he looked at with such softness and care.

This was everyone's sweet-tempered, well-mannered young lady.

This was my big sister. The one I'd looked up to and respected for years.

"You're an idiot too, you know." That was Mrs. Morgan's voice now, scolding. "How could you walk into the wrong room?"

"I wanted to make it more fun, so I took some of the drugs too!" Sophie's tone turned defensive and agitated. "How was I supposed to know they'd be that strong? What are we going to do now? I don't want her staying in the position of Mrs. Carter for another second! Dylan is MY man!"

"It's simple." Mr. Bennett's voice was calm, confident. "Did you see how worried Dylan looked just now? As long as you say the word, he'll definitely divorce that worthless girl."

Mrs. Morgan laughed, the sound light and delighted. "Your father's absolutely right. Dylan was forced by that old man to marry her. But the person he actually loves is you. As long as you ask him to, he'll make you Mrs. Carter in no time."

Sophie made this satisfied little sound. "Who does that witch think she is? How dare she try to compete with me for Dylan? If her bone marrow hadn't been a match for mine, she never would have been allowed into our family in the first place. Do you know how disgusted I feel every single time I have to call her my sister?"

The words hit me like ice water.

My vision started going dark around the edges. I felt this creeping coldness starting at my feet and working its way up through my whole body.

The Bennetts hadn't adopted me out of kindness or good intentions.

They'd adopted me because Sophie needed my bone marrow.

For the past five years, Sophie had been calling me her sister, playing the role of the loving older sibling. But it had all been an act. A hypocritical show put on for appearances.

Whenever I wasn't around, I was nothing to them. Less than nothing.

Heh. How absolutely ironic.

A wave of nausea hit me suddenly. The ugly truth was making me feel physically sick.

"How annoying!" Sophie's voice came through the door again, irritated now. "I went through all the trouble of setting up this fake suicide scene to make Dylan want to divorce that witch. But then he had to leave for some stupid emergency meeting before I could even talk to him about it."

So the suicide attempt had been fake too. Another performance. Sophie had been putting on a show for Dylan, trying to manipulate him into divorcing me as quickly as possible.

The whole thing suddenly felt ridiculous. Almost laughable. How could someone as smart as Dylan fall for someone like Sophie?

"Don't worry, sweetheart." Mrs. Morgan's voice was soothing, reassuring. "I'll call Dylan later and tell him that awful girl came here to cause trouble again. I'll say she triggered you and pushed you into an emotional breakdown that made you try to kill yourself. I'm absolutely certain he'll agree to divorce her after that."

I could hear the satisfaction in Sophie's response, like everything was going according to plan.

"Mom, you're brilliant! Yes, let's do exactly that!"

Whatever tiny shred of hope I'd been holding onto for this family, for their affection, their acceptance, died right there in that moment. Just completely crumbled to dust.

I let out this short, bitter laugh and pushed the door open without bothering to knock or announce myself.

"I believe that as long as I'm still breathing, the position of Mrs. Carter will never be yours, Sophie!"

The room went dead silent.

All three of them whipped around to stare at me, their faces frozen in identical expressions of shock. Like they'd seen a ghost. Their eyes were practically bulging out of their heads.

"You... Emma... how long have you been standing there?" Sophie's voice came out strangled, her face going pale.

"Long enough." I walked further into the room, and I was surprised by how steady my voice sounded. How calm I felt, considering my entire world had just been turned upside down. "Long enough to hear every single word of your little plan."

"You were eavesdropping!" Mrs. Morgan recovered first, her shock quickly morphing into outrage. "How dare you…"

"How dare I?" I actually laughed at that. "How dare YOU? All of you!" I looked at each of them in turn. "You used me. You only brought me into your family because you needed my bone marrow for Sophie. You never cared about me. Not once."

"Now you listen here…" Mr. Bennett started, his face turning red.

"No, YOU listen!" Something inside me had snapped. Five years of trying to be good enough, trying to earn their love, trying to fit into a family that never wanted me in the first place. "I heard everything. The drugs. The setup. The fake suicide. All of it."

Sophie's eyes darted nervously between her parents. She looked panicked now, trying to figure out how to salvage this. "Emma, you're misunderstanding…"

"Stop." I held up my hand. "Just stop with the act. I'm done. I'm so completely done with all of you."

"You ungrateful little…" Mrs. Morgan took a step toward me, her hand raised like she was going to slap me again.

But I didn't flinch this time. I stood my ground and looked her dead in the eye.

"Go ahead," I said quietly. "Hit me again. But it won't change anything. I know the truth now. And you know what? I'm glad. I'm glad I finally see you all for what you really are."

My hand moved protectively to my stomach again. These people didn't deserve to know about the baby. They didn't deserve anything from me anymore.

"Emma, if you know what's good for you…" Mr. Bennett started, his voice low and threatening.

"What? You'll kick me out? Disown me?" I smiled, but there was no humor in it. "You already did that, remember? I'm no longer a Bennett. You made that very clear."

I turned to look at Sophie one last time. She was sitting there on the hospital bed, and without the mask of sweetness and innocence, I could finally see the real her. Cruel. Manipulative. Rotten to the core.

"You want Dylan so badly?" I said. "You want to be Mrs. Carter?"

She stared at me, suspicious and uncertain.

"Well, too bad," I continued, my voice hard. "Because I'm not giving him up. Not now. Not ever. You're going to have to watch me live the life you think you deserve. And there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.”