CHAPTER TWO:THE POISON AND THE PAST..

Elena stood frozen, the expression on George’s face was scary. “So it’s true”, she stumbled backwards.             

“You…you’re disgusting!” she screamed, her voice breaking. “ How could you do this to me?”.

George’s face twisted with irritation rather than guilt. “Don’t start shouting, Elena. You wouldn’t understand.

“Understand?” Elena echoed, her voice rising higher. “ I just caught you in my bed with my sister and you’ve been stealing from my company, George! What is there to understand?”. Tears trickled down Elena’s face while she clenched her chest.

Victoria stepped forward, her expression dark and cold. “You were never supposed to find out this way”, she said quietly, but there was no regret in tone.

Elena’s breathing grew uneven. “What do you mean by that?”.

Victoria’s lips curled into a cruel smirk, she had been waiting for this day to come; the day where she would crush her sister. “You’ve been busy pretending to be strong, but you’ve been dying all along, haven’t you? the treatments, the pills….none of them were ever going to save you?.

Elena’s brows furrowed. “What are you talking about?”. She was shocked at how her sister knew, she just found out today.

“How do you know the treatment failed?” Elena questioned, confusion clearly visible on her pale face.

George exhaled heavily,rubbing the back of his neck as if the conversation exhausted him. “Vic, stop dancing around it. She deserves to know the truth.

“ Truth?” Elena whispered, her heart pounding loudly.

Victoria tilted her head slightly, a gleam of triumph in her eyes. “The truth is, dear sister, you’ve been taking the wrong medication for months. We’ve been switching your pills, giving you slow poison instead of your treatment”.

For a second, Elena couldn’t breathe. The room spun, the walls seemed to tilt, pressing in on her.

“You…you switched my pills?”

Victoria laughed softly “oh, don’t look so shocked. You made it so easy, too trusting as always. You handed us the chance”.

Elena’s vision blurred with tears. “Why? What did I ever do to you?

George stepped closer,his tone colder now, almost detached. “You ruined everything, Elena. You married me, built the company in your name, and made me feel like an employee in my own home. You thought you could control everything; including me.

Elena stared at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I gave you everything, George. I trusted you. I believed you”.

“And I was tired of being your shadow”, he said flatly.

Victoria scoffed. “And I was tired of being your forgotten sister. You always had everything, the company, the sympathy. People pitied you, adored you. But you never deserved it. You were just lucky”.

Elena’s trembling hands balled into fists. “You’re monsters!”, she whispered.

Victoria shrugged. “Maybe. But at least we will have everything when you are gone”.

Something inside Elena broke, not in the weak, crumbling way she expected, but like glass shattering under fire. The pain turned to anger, and anger to resolve.

“I’m not dead yet”, she said,her voice shaking but strong.

 Every word that came out of their mouth were lies, ever since her childhood since Victoria had always gotten her parents recognition,love. She was always left behind because Victoria always outshined her, even when she had something, she would let Victoria take it which led to her dad praising her. She was just given her grandfather’s inheritance because her grandfather despised Victoria and her mother. 

Elena’s hand moved quickly as opened her email, the one her secretary, Maya, had sent earlier that day.

“You think you’ve won?” she said bitterly, her voice gaining power with each word. “Well, let’s see how you both feel when the world knows the kind of people you really are”

George’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”.

“I have proof”, Elena said, holding up her phone. “Proof that you've been stealing from my company. Every illegal transfer, every fake invoice; it's all here. And I've already forwarded it to the board members.”

George’s face was drained of color. “You wouldn't dare”.

“You won't pull such a stunt and humiliate the man you love,” George said.

Elena scuffed,“I already did”.

In the past, these were the words he always said to her each time he wanted something from her, Love?. He never loved her, he was just using her all this time and she was too foolish to realize even when he showed it in many ways. But it wasn't his fault, she had been the one persuading him to marry her. The realization hit her too hard.

Elena turned towards the stairs, her hands trembling as she fought to stay steady. “You might have poisoned me, but I'm still strong enough to destroy you”.

She took a step forward, ready to leave the duo and their betrayal behind. But before she could take a step, a hand shot out and grabbed her arm.

“Elena, wait!”.

Victoria’s grip was tight, her nails digging into Elena’s skin. “There’s something you should know before you walk out”.

“I don’t want to hear anything from you”, Elena snapped, yanking her arm free.

Victoria stepped closer, her voice dropping low, almost like a hiss. “You think George was your first betrayal? You don’t even remember what you did that almost ruined your own engagement”.

Elena froze, confused. “What are you talking about?”.

Victoria’s smile was sharp and poisonous. “You really don't remember, do you? What happened on my birthday?”

Elena blinked, memories flashing like broken glass; music, laughter, a crowded party, the clinking of glasses. She had gone with Victoria that night, trying to be a good sister. George had been out of town for a business trip, and she had to go because Victoria insisted. 

“What about your birthday?” Elena asked warily.

Victoria leaned in until her lips were almost brushing Elena’s ear. “That night”, she whispered, “you didn't just have a drink. I made sure of it”.

Elena’s breath hitched.

“I slipped something into your glass”, Victoria continued, her tone calm and cruel. “A little aphrodisiac. You were so naive, so trusting. You laughed, danced, and before you knew it, you were in a hotel room; with a man you didn't even know”.

Elena’s eyes widened in horror. “You are lying”.

Victoria smirked. “Am I? You came home the next morning crying, shaking, saying you couldn’t remember what happened. I told you’d had too much to drink, and you believed me. George found out, Elena. Someone sent him photos. He never looked at you the same way after that”.

“No,” Elena whispered, shaking her head violently. “That’s not true”.

“Oh, it’s true,” Victoria said softly. “That night destroyed whatever love George had for you. He stayed for the money, for the company, for me, but never for you”.

Elena stumbled backward, her heart racing painfully. Her stomach twisted as the memories started to come back in flashes; a drink in her hand, Victoria’s voice urging her to have fun, the room spinning, her body getting hot, the darkness swallowing her whole.

Tears filled her eyes. “Why would you do that to me?”

Victoria’s gaze hardened. “Because I was tired of being second best. You always got everything I wanted. I wanted George first, but you took him. So I took him back and everything else that was supposed to be mine”.

Elena’s knees went weak. She clutched the stair rail for balance, her spinning again, the revelation, the hate from her sister that had always supported her marriage, Victoria had also helped her plan the anniversary dinner.

All these years, all that distance between her and George, it all made sense now. The coldness, the resentment, the quiet hatred he had hidden behind fake smiles.

“You ruined my life”, Elena whispered, her voice barely audible. “You both did”.

Victoria tilted her head. “Oh, don't act like the victim, Elena. You’re already dying. At least you will die knowing the truth”.