Chapter 1: How It All Happened

How did it all happen? It started on the day I was meant to meet my boyfriend.

I hummed along to the silly love song Ethan had sent me that morning as I climbed the stairs. My feet were killing me after pulling a double shift at the café, but the ache didn’t matter. Ethan had promised he’d be waiting when I got home. For the first time in weeks, I felt light. Wanted.

The house was quiet when I stepped inside, which wasn’t unusual. My step mom, Isodora and step sister, Natalia were probably out shopping again, and Father was likely still at the office. I kicked off my shoes by the door and headed straight for my bedroom, a small smile tugging at my lips. Maybe tonight we could order takeout and watch that movie he kept talking about. Normal couple stuff. The kind of normal I craved.

I pushed the door open without knocking.

The first thing I heard was moaning. Loud. Breathless. Familiar.

My brain froze.

Ethan was on my bed, hips moving between Natalia’s spread legs. Her hair spilled across my pillow like she owned it. One of her hands gripped his back, nails digging in, while the other clutched the sheets. They were so into it they didn’t notice me at first.

Then Ethan glanced over.

He didn’t stop.

He slowed down, sure, but he kept thrusting into her, eyes half-lidded with pleasure. “Shit, Rory,” he panted, voice rough. “You’re home early.”

Natalia turned her head and laughed. Actually laughed. She wrapped her legs tighter around his waist and arched up to meet him. “Oh, don’t stop on her account, baby. Let her see how it’s done. Poor little Aurora never could keep a man satisfied anyway.”

The shopping bags slipped from my fingers and hit the floor. Something inside my chest cracked wide open. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t speak. All I could do was stand there, staring at the only person I thought truly loved me fucking my stepsister in the bed where he used to hold me.

“Why?” The word came out small.

Ethan finally pulled out, not even bothering to cover himself properly. He sat, still breathing hard. “Look, Rory… it’s not what you think.”

Natalia snorted, stretching lazily like a cat. “It’s exactly what she thinks. We’ve been doing this for months. You really believed he loved you? Cute.”

Tears burned my eyes. I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw something. Instead, I just turned around and ran.

I didn’t stop until I reached the old garden shed at the far end of the house. I collapsed on the floor. My knees hit the concrete hard, but the pain didn’t register. All I could feel was the image of them burned into my brain, Ethan’s face, Natalia’s smirk, the way they didn’t even care that I saw.

Sobs tore out of me. Ugly, choking sounds that made my whole body shake. I pressed my forehead against my knees and cried until my throat felt dry.

Why did it have to be my room? Why did they have to let me see? The way Natalia had laughed… like she wanted me to watch. Like it was part of the fun.

Footsteps approached outside. The shed door opened slowly. Evelyn stepped in, her maid uniform slightly wrinkled from the day’s work. She took one look at me and closed the door behind her. Without a word, she lowered herself onto the floor beside me, ignoring the dust on her clothes. She pulled my head onto her shoulder the way she had done a hundred times before, ever since I was a little girl with scraped knees.

I buried my face in her neck and cried harder.

“He said he loved me,” I gasped between sobs. “He told me I was beautiful. That I was enough. Why would he do this? Why in my room, Evelyn? They didn’t even stop. They just… kept going.”

Evelyn’s arms tightened around me. Her hand stroked my hair in slow, soothing motions. “Because they’re cruel, Aurora. Some people get pleasure from watching others break. Especially when they think they’re better than you.”

I clutched her uniform like it was the only solid thing left in my world. “I thought he was different. After everything with Mom dying and Isadora changing and Natalia always hating me… he was supposed to be my one good thing. Now even that’s gone.”

She was quiet for a long moment, just holding me while I fell apart.

“You deserve better than him,” she said finally, her voice low and steady. “You’ve always deserved better. Don’t let their poison make you think otherwise.”

I pulled back slightly to look at her. Evelyn’s kind eyes were filled with something deeper than sympathy, something like fierce protectiveness. She wiped the tears from my cheeks with her thumbs.

“How long has this been going on?” I whispered.

“Months, from what I’ve seen,” she admitted gently. “I didn’t want to tell you until I was sure. I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

We sat there in the shed for what felt like hours. Evelyn didn’t rush me. She just stayed, rubbing my back, letting me cry until there were no tears left.

Eventually, she helped me stand and brushed the dust off my dress.

“Let’s get you cleaned up before they notice you’re gone,” she said. “I’ll sneak some warm soup to your room later. You don’t have to face them tonight if you don’t want to.”

I nodded numbly. As we walked back toward the house through the garden, I felt completely empty. The necklace my mother left me felt heavy against my chest.

Everything I thought I had, love, security, a place where I belonged had just been ripped away in the most humiliating way possible.

And deep down, I had this sick feeling that this was only the beginning.

That the people who were supposed to be my family still had so much more pain waiting for me.