MasukWe rushed into the medical facility just after three in the morning. The halls were quiet under the bright lights. My heart pounded so hard it hurt. Ryder stayed close on my right. Brigit walked on my left, her hands clenched tight at her sides.The doctor met us outside the room. Her voice was calm but serious.“She opened her eyes about an hour ago,” she said. “Recovery will be fragile and slow. Don’t expect long talks. She gets tired very fast. Keep your voices soft. And please be careful — don’t talk about anything that could give her any type of shock or stress.”I nodded, my throat tight. “Can we see her?”“Yes. You can meet her. Just take it slow.”I stepped into the room by myself first. The soft beeping of machines filled the quiet. My mother looked smaller than I remembered, her face pale against the white pillow, but her eyes were open. The moment she saw me, tears spilled down her cheeks.“Scarlett…” Her voice was rough and weak, like it hadn’t been used in years.I took h
I sat on the living room sofa with Brigit, both of us waiting. The clock on the wall moved too slowly. Outside, the night felt heavy. Ryder had left hours ago to meet his grandfather, and every minute without news made my chest tighter.Brigit kept glancing at her phone, then at the door. “Do you think something bad happened?”“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “He said it was important. That’s all.”The front door finally opened. Ryder walked in. His face looked dark, tired, and closed off. He set his keys down without a word and went straight to the kitchen for water.I stood up. “Ryder?”He didn’t turn around right away. When he did, his eyes were distant.“Not now, Scarlett,” he said quietly.Brigit shifted on the sofa. The awkward silence between us grew thicker. I walked closer to him.“You can’t just shut us out,” I said. “We’ve been waiting. Tell me what happened.”He exhaled and leaned against the counter. “My grandfather has been working against Ethan behind my back. Movin
RyderI refused the glass of whiskey. The fire crackled between us while the hidden video still burned in my mind. Grandfather sat in his usual chair, calm as ever, watching me with those sharp old eyes that had guided me for years.“Sit down, Ryder,” he said again.I stayed standing. “What are you hiding from me?”Grandfather set the glass down carefully. “Ethan’s father once destroyed a major deal that belonged to our family. He nearly ruined us. He spread lies, bought off board members, and left us fighting for survival. I never forgot. When the chance came to take everything back, I took it.”I paced once across the thick carpet. “And the rest? The ‘more than this’ you mentioned?”He looked at the fire for a long moment. “Ethan’s parents were involved in covering up Brigit’s true parentage. They helped arrange the adoption and later made sure the orphanage records disappeared. The car accident that killed her adoptive parents was not an accident. Brake failure was only the story o
RYDERI sat in my office with the lights low, staring at the city lights through the tall windows. My mind should have been on the next board meeting or the latest numbers coming in, but it kept drifting back to Scarlett, Brigit, and the growing mess around Ethan. The silence felt heavy tonight.A new email popped up on my screen. The sender name was blank, just a string of numbers. I almost ignored it.Junk mail came in all the time. But something made me pause. I clicked it open.The attachment was a video file.I hit play.My grandfather’s face filled the screen. He sat in his favorite chair in the old study, the one with the dark wood panels and heavy curtains.He looked tired but sharp, the way he always did when making big moves. Someone off-camera was talking to him. The voice was distorted, but I could hear every word.“…the shares are already moving in our favor,” the voice said. “Ethan’s company will collapse from the inside. We push the infertility rumors, leak the affair r
SCARLETTThe park bench felt colder than usual the next afternoon. I spotted Brigit already waiting, hunched over with a thick envelope in her lap. She looked worn out, like sleep had stayed far away all night. When I sat beside her, she didn’t smile. She just pushed the papers toward me.“These are from the orphanage,” she said. Her voice sounded rough. “Look at the dates. One paper says I was born in June. Another says July. The names of my birth parents are different on each one. I stayed up all night comparing them.”I flipped through the yellowed sheets. My fingers felt numb. Every small difference made my stomach twist harder. “This doesn’t prove anything,” I said, even though part of me already doubted my own words. “Papers get mixed up all the time.”Brigit rubbed her face. “That’s what I keep telling myself. But then I look at you and something feels… familiar. Like I’ve seen your expressions before. I hate it. I’ve been alone my whole life. Now suddenly I might have a sister,
SCARLETTThe house felt strangely quiet the next morning. I woke up to the soft sound of the front door closing. Brigit had left early for some personal matters. She didn’t say much, just a short message that she needed time to think. I should have felt relieved to have some space after everything that happened yesterday. Instead, I felt oddly empty, like a piece of me was missing even though we were still awkward around each other.I touched my belly gently and whispered, “It’s just you and me for now, little one.”Ryder had arranged a private check-up for me at a quiet clinic. He drove me there himself, his hand resting lightly on my knee the whole way. I didn’t say much. My mind kept drifting between Brigit, Ethan, and this baby growing inside me.At the clinic, the doctor smiled warmly as she moved the ultrasound wand over my belly. The screen lit up, and there it was — my baby. Tiny, but clear. The heartbeat filled the room, strong and steady. Tears filled my eyes instantly.







