Chapter 2: I finally know the truth

“What are you doing here? How long have you been standing there?” Daniel growls.

“Long enough to realize my entire life was a lie,” I whisper, my voice shaking as I stand on my feet.

My mother shoots up from her seat. Her palm strikes my cheek with a quick, searing crack. My head snaps to the side. And the coppery flavour of blood fills my mouth.

“You ungrateful brat! How dare you look at us with such judgment? We raised you. We endured you!”

“Endured me?” I choke out a hollow laugh, looking at the woman who had birthed me. “You sold me. You ruined my life for a paycheck. Was the price high enough, Mom?”

Barbara approaches slowly. “I told you I’d talk to them. Why did you have to come here and ruin the mood? This is on you. Your curiosity killed the cat.”

Daniel grabs my chin. His grip is tight enough to hurt. “Barbara’s right. You’ve always acted as if you were holier than everyone else. You should’ve just died quietly, Jade. We’re all exhausted from pretending to love you.”

The dam inside me breaks. I react by spitting into his handsome lying face. He pushes me with a heavy grunt of disgust. I hit the floor with a sickening thud.

I feel so much pain in my body but it can't compare to the piercing ache in my chest. I close my eyes and start to cry because it feels that’s the only thing I can do. I’m wishing so hard that this is all a nightmare. 

“You took my womb… my future… my children. What did I do wrong? All I wanted was to be a good daughter, a good wife.”

“Don’t you understand?” Daniel says coldly. “You are pathetic.”

Mason leans back casually, watching the scene as if it were entertainment. “A trust fund that unlocks when you turn twenty-five?” he says with a mocking laugh. “Do you really think someone like you deserves that kind of money? What exactly did you do to earn it?”

Daniel’s eyes narrow. “I doubt it's only fans. Nobody would pay a dime to even look at her. She’s such an ugly thing. You know what, it doesn't matter.” He faces me. “It’s your birthday tomorrow, isn't it?”

I can’t look at him. My heart is hurting as if it's going to collapse any moment. He hunches next to me.

“Thanks for signing those documents earlier,” he continues, breath hot against my ear. “When you’re gone, everything becomes mine.”

Gone. The word echoes in my skull. It hurts. God! It hurts so much.

How had I not seen this? How had I mistaken manipulation for love? Daniel had always looked like a dream—charming, gentle, perfect until our marriage. And I… I had spent my whole life trying to be someone worth choosing.

My family hated me. And now I know the truth. My husband never loved me. But Barbara… Her betrayal hurts the most. She had been my safe place. Or at least, I thought she was.

“Just die, Jade,” my mother-in-law barks from the corner, sipping her tea as if discussing the weather. “Do one selfless thing for this family. Die. Die so we can finally live.”

Something dark rises inside me. It isn't sadness. It isn't fear either. It’s rage. Beautiful wrath that’s burning inside me. I had spent years building a future for people already planning my funeral. Waiting for money I didn’t even know why it existed. Waiting for me to disappear.

My hands move before my brain can catch up. I shove Daniel hard. He stumbles backward. For the first time he doesn't look like has everything in control. I stand quickly. My legs are shaking. But I try not to crumble. I look at each of their faces.  

“You won’t get a single cent of my money.”

They shift back, glaring, their hatred for me radiating. I walk out. No one follows.

“Let her go,” Daniel says behind me. “She’s a walking corpse.”

Those words wrap around my throat. It suffocates me, but I carry on. I grab the keys to his car from the desk on my way out. I slip into the driver’s seat and slam the door shut. The engine roars alive beneath my shaking hands. I don't move yet. I just sit there. Breathing and breaking. Daniel rushes outside as if the house is on fire.

“What the hell are you doing? Get out of the car!”

He pulls at the handle and realises I’d locked the doors. His fist slams against the window. I stare at him through the glass. This man had once told me I was his whole world. Now he looks at me like I’m an obstacle.  My foot presses down. The car shoots forward.

I don't want to look back but I did. In the rearview mirror, I see Barbara hurrying into her car with Daniel. They start chasing me. The road blur as tears flood my vision. I don't know where I’m going. I don’t even care. I just needed distance from them.

Or maybe I needed distance from myself. From the girl who still believed love could save her. The speedometer climbs. Eighty. One hundred. One hundred and twenty.

I do not slow down. I’m not thinking clearly anymore. My mind keeps replaying their voices. Their laughter. Their betrayal. Streetlights stretch into glowing lines.

A pair of blinding high beams rounds the corner. Another incoming vehicle. I jerk the wheel, but the tires lose their grip. The world slants.

CRUNCH.

Metal folds like paper. Glass turns into a million diamonds, flaying my skin. The car flips once, twice, three times, before slamming into a concrete pillar. Then silence rushes in.

I’m dangling upside down. The smell of petrol and iron floods my senses. Blood flows down my forehead and onto the car's roof. Through the shattered glass, I see Barbara’s car slow briefly… then drive away.

They didn't even stop to check if I was breathing. Somewhere ahead, another car lay destroyed. I wonder who’s inside. I hope they survive. I hope they hate me. It would make things fair. Maybe Barbara was right. Maybe everything that ever went wrong… was because of me.

****

“What do we do with her? She just won’t die,” Daniel’s voice drifts into my subconscious mind.

I’m lying on a soft bed. The smell of antiseptic fills my nose. The soft hum of machines surrounds me. I’m back in the hospital. I survived the crash. But how did I get here? Did the other driver survive too? I hope they did.

“The time of death is twelve am,” I hear Dr. Declan say. 

What? No. I’m still breathing. 

“I have a client who needs a heart and kidneys,” the doctor pauses. “This will be much more profitable than the trust fund share.”

“Fine. Get on with it,” says Daniel. “She doesn't have anyone else who loves her or will come looking for her. When you’re done taking out the organs you need, cremate her. We’ll toss her ashes once we get the money.”

Dear God! No. Please, no. They can’t do this to me. I try to move, but my body’s like a rock. It seems like the whole world is pressed against me. My heart aches terribly. Then I feel a hand on my cold skin.  

“Goodbye, Jade.” It’s Barbara. Her flowery scent engulfs me. “You were a great wife and a good friend, but you were too damn nice. Let this be a lesson for your next life: kindness is for losers.”

The warmth of her hands disappears. Footsteps recede. Tears slip from my eyes. Then Doctor Declan pulls the sheets down. I feel the icy tip of a scalpel touch my chest. 

My heart falters in one last uneven beat as darkness begins to close in around me. Let me fade, I whisper silently into the emptiness. But if I ever open my eyes again, I will return for every one of you. I will hunt down those who turned my life into torment, and they will beg for mercy, wishing they had taken my place instead.

****

****

****

“Jade? Jade, are you okay? You’re shaking like a leaf.”

My eyes snap open. My ragged breathing slows. Daniel’s grip on my arms loosens, his eyes lit with confusion. 

“What happened to you?” he asks. “The priest is waiting.”

My brows furrow. “What?”

My heart hammers against my ribs. I’m standing in a sea of white lace. The smell of lilies suffocating. Daniel is standing before me in a tuxedo, his smile the same perfect mask I now know hides a monster.

My gaze sweeps the place. I’m not in a hospital. I’m not in a wreck. It’s the church where we got married. The same old priest with a constipated expression.

Barbara sitting next to Mason. A few colleagues from work and my family’s friends. Natasha, my mother-in-law smirking from the front row. My mother wiping away fake tears. I touch my head. Dear Lord, I have hair. My beautiful long blonde hair is sitting perfectly on my scalp. My eyes well.

How? How is this possible? It’s my wedding day. Exactly one year before my murder.

“Would you, Jade Steven, take Daniel Ederson to be your wedded husband, in sickness and in health until death do you part?”

The question hits me. I don't respond. Honestly, I’m really afraid right now. My hands are trembling. The silence stretches and the guests begin to whisper. Daniel’s grip on my hands tightens. A warning flash in his eyes.

I look at his face. I now only see the man who would harvest my organs for a paycheck. Suddenly, I feel a chilling, beautiful calm and hatred. The priest repeats the question. 

“No. I’d rather die,” I say, pulling my hands away from him like he’s covered in acid. “This wedding is off.”