Two

“Explain what, Silas? Go on, explain how you are banging my sister!” Fidelia snapped, annoyed as she tried her best to stop the tears from falling.

“Babe, listen — this doesn’t change anything. We’re still getting married. You still love me, don’t you?” He stepped closer, voice soft and fake-tender.

“Don’t throw away everything we’ve built over one mistake.”

“Alright, I’m sorry. It was a mistake,” he added, trying to calm her down, but his intentions weren’t pure. “You can’t tell anyone about this. Let’s sort it out and proceed with the marriage tomorrow.”

What? Fidelia wanted to scream that sentence right in his face. We’re still getting married? After this? Are you kidding me right now?

“We still need to proceed with signing the papers and transfers of shares. You know how much I really need it… don’t ruin this for us.”

Us? Oh my God, I can’t believe this. So this is what you care about? “My feelings don’t matter? You fucking cheated on me, and you are talking about shares? Fuck this — the marriage is off. I can’t believe I actually fell for you.” Fidelia felt her pain had increased. She was feeling the worst kind of pain right now, like her entire world had collapsed.

She removed her hands from his hold, entered her car, and drove off, leaving him standing there like the liar he was.

“Shit… I need to convince her,” Silas muttered behind her.

At that moment Bridget came out, now fully dressed. “Baby, you are just worrying for nothing. She will cry it out and we will apologize. We got drunk and it happened. She will forgive you, she always does,” Bridget said, moving her hands to his chest and placing a kiss on him.

“Well, I guess that’s true. She is in love with me.” It wasn’t the first time she had caught him cheating, but he always apologized and she forgave him. But this time, it was with her stepsister.

I need the shares. I have to gain for the next meeting to become the vice president. Of course he didn’t love her. He just needed to get married to her so her grandfather could give him the shares to support him.

That was the promise he had made her make after some emotional mind game he played with her. Gaining the shares and some other properties and funds were all he wanted and why he approached her.

“Where is she going?” Silas asked.

“Probably home.”

“Let’s go,” he said, going in to grab his key. Then he went to get his car and they drove after her.

Fidelia got home and went straight to her stepmother. “M… Mom, how can Bridget do this to me?” she said, still with teary eyes.

Alice, her stepmother, stood up from the couch she was sitting on. “Slow down… what are you two fighting about?” she said, trying to calm her down.

“I just caught her having sex with Silas… of all people, Silas! I was going to marry him tomorrow… how could both of them?”

Hearing this, Alice rolled her eyes like she didn’t care. Like she knew about it. And yes, she did, seeing as she didn’t seem surprised at all.

“Oh, how could they be careless?” she said slowly under her breath, but Fidelia heard it.

Oh? Fidelia wanted the ground to swallow her up. She knew? This night just keeps getting better and better. “You knew about it?” she said slowly, unable to believe what she heard. “I can’t believe you knew about it and yet you still wanted me to marry him. My God, I hate you all.”

It was at that moment the puzzle in her head started getting clear. They all planned it. Of course they did. This whole fake family.

“Then she should go marry him. I’m a fool for falling in love with the wrong person. I’m a fool for believing in this fake family… I’m not marrying him.” She remembered she still had the proposal ring on her hand and immediately took it off and threw it across the room.

Pa! A slap landed hard on her face. She felt the sting on her cheek — her stepmother had just slapped her.

“What did you say?” Alice barked, then let out a mocking laugh. “Cry all you want. The marriage is happening tomorrow whether you like it or not. Don’t let me make your life more miserable than it already is.”

Alice felt the little fake kindness she had been showering her — just so the marriage could go through — had gotten to her head. There was no use faking anything anymore. She was going back to treating her the way they always did.

Fidelia held her cheek and the tears she had been holding finally dropped. She didn’t want to appear weak, but it seemed she still didn’t have the courage.

“No, no, NO, NO! I’m not marrying him, I won’t!” she screamed, unable to handle everything going on — when she was interrupted by another hard slap that made her spin and fall on the floor.

“Shut up and go inside your room,” Alice said, staring at her with disgust. How dare you disagree with me… I raised you.

At that moment Bridget and Silas came inside and stared at her on the floor.

Fidelia and her stepmother turned to see who it was. Immediately Fidelia saw both of them and a new wave of anger came over her. She stood up and went straight to Bridget.

“And to think I thought of you as my sister. When you finally started acting kind, I thought you had changed,” Fidelia said with pain between her teeth.

“Oh please big sister, I had always hated you.”

Fidelia’s heart arched hearing such words that she turned to Silas and frowned, unable to say anything. She had nothing left to say to him.

More like she wanted to waste no words on him anymore.

“Where do you think you are going crybaby”

Fidelia was storming out of the house when she heard her stepsister laugh and then she felt her hair being pulled back so hard her neck bent.

She twisted her ankle from Bridget’s vicious pull and lost her balance due to the heels she had on.

Bam!!!

Then she fell and her head slammed hard on the floor with a loud crack.

Immediately she lost consciousness. Everything went blank.