EMILY'S POV
The day I left the hospital, the sun was bright, too bright as if it was trying to mock the storm still brewing inside me. A week had passed since the accident, and yet my mind still carried the echo of glass shattering. That moment replayed in my head like a haunting lullaby every night. Sometimes I jolted awake, other times I couldn’t sleep at all.
Olivia stood at the foot of the hospital bed, carefully folding the last of my clothes into a navy duffel bag. Her movements were quiet, focused, almost ritualistic, like this was a moment she didn’t want to rush. I sat nearby, slowly pacing the room as I tried to shake the nerves crawling under my skin.
I let out a sigh, pressing a hand lightly to my still-tender ribs. They’d healed more quickly than expected, thanks to the miracle of modern medicine, but the emotional bruises remained untouched. “You don’t have to do everything for
EMILY'S POVThe day I left the hospital, the sun was bright, too bright as if it was trying to mock the storm still brewing inside me. A week had passed since the accident, and yet my mind still carried the echo of glass shattering. That moment replayed in my head like a haunting lullaby every night. Sometimes I jolted awake, other times I couldn’t sleep at all.Olivia stood at the foot of the hospital bed, carefully folding the last of my clothes into a navy duffel bag. Her movements were quiet, focused, almost ritualistic, like this was a moment she didn’t want to rush. I sat nearby, slowly pacing the room as I tried to shake the nerves crawling under my skin.I let out a sigh, pressing a hand lightly to my still-tender ribs. They’d healed more quickly than expected, thanks to the miracle of modern medicine, but the emotional bruises remained untouched. “You don’t have to do everything for
EMILY'S POVThe room felt like it was spinning. Dave’s words echoed in my ears again and again, each repetition more painful than the last.You were pregnant.But not anymore.Spontaneous abortion.I sat frozen, unable to speak, unable to breathe. It was as if someone had slammed an iron door on my chest and locked it shut. My vision blurred, not from the hospital lighting but from the flood of tears building up in my eyes.And then, the door flung open.“Why are you so callous? What a perfect way to break a bad news to her,” Olivia’s voice pierced through the tension in the room. She scoffed in disbelief, her face pulled in disgust as she glared at Dave.But I couldn’t focus on either of them properly. My mind was spinning, trying to process what had been said. I turned sharply to Olivia, my voice trembling yet ris
EMILY'S POVMy eyes flickered open slowly, blinking against the brightness of the fluorescent light above me. My body felt heavy, stiff, and sore in every possible way as if I had been crushed and pieced back together all wrong. The dull pain in my limbs spread deeper into my chest, a constant throb that reminded me I was alive… but barely.Then came the memories.They didn’t creep in gently, they rushed at me like a storm.Mara’s death.The funeral.The illusion, no, the hallucination of her walking away.The moment I got hit.It all hit me again in one wave. I gasped as it settled back into my bones, like reliving it all over.I glanced around the room, slowly taking in my surroundings. I was in a hospital ward, hooked up to machines that beeped softly, measuring every breath
EMILY'S POVI held my cheek with a trembling hand, the sting from the slap barely registering. I didn’t feel any pain, how could I, when the ache in my heart was already tearing me apart from the inside out? Her mother was right. Every single word she yelled at me was true. I killed Mara. I took her from the world.Tears fell in thick streams down my face. My shoulders shook as sobs ripped from my throat. I couldn’t even look up. Shame cloaked me like a heavy garment. My breath came in sharp, uneven gasps as the weight of my guilt pressed harder and harder into my chest.I should have been careful.I should have had my hands steady on the wheel, my eyes fixed on the road, my mind clear.But I wasn’t focused. I was distracted, consumed with thoughts of Victoria Hale, her threats, her schemes, my anger and fear boiling into a storm that clouded my judgment.
EMILY'S POVI blinked slowly, my eyes dry and sore, and for a long moment, I couldn’t remember where I was. The ceiling tiles above me were plain white, dotted with soft ventilation grills and a humming fluorescent bulb. I could hear the faint rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor beside me. Something was attached to my arm. An IV drip.My eyes flickered again, and I turned my head ever so slightly, wincing at the ache that crept into my neck and shoulder. That was when I saw her.Olivia.She was sitting by my bedside, her head bowed slightly. Her face looked pale and swollen, her eyes red and puffy. Tears had dried on her cheeks, leaving faint salt streaks. She was wearing a simple black gown, a modest one, no jewelry, no makeup.My heart began to beat unevenly in my chest.Where am I?The thought echoed in my mind as I looked around
I didn’t think.My instincts kicked in before reason could stop me. I rushed forward, pulled Mara behind me, and slapped Victoria hard across the face. The sound echoed through the hospital room like a crack of thunder.She staggered backward, her hand flying to her cheek, stunned.But instead of screaming or lashing out, Victoria did something that completely threw me off guard.She began to cry.Real tears.Not the crocodile kind she often summoned in court or on the press standbut raw, broken sobs that made her shoulders quake. She dropped to her knees, her head bowed, her palms together in a pleading gesture.I froze.Mara froze."I'm sorry, Mara,” Victoria sobbed, her voice shaky and soaked in grief. “I’ve repented. I swear to God… I’ve changed.”