Chapter 4

Nadia 

Dinner was torture. 

I stood by the counter, serving the food as they ate. 

Simone made a face after her first bite of the roast. "This is very dry," she said, pushing her plate away. 

She dabbed at her lips with a napkin. "Honestly, Nadia, how long have you been cooking and you still can’t get it right? No wonder the kids are always complaining about your food."

"She cooks like a robot," Lucas laughed. "With no flavor, and no love. Just robot food."

"She doesn’t love us," Isabella added with a smirk, looking at Simone. "She cried last night because Dad gave her a necklace. It was so dramatic. You’d never act like that, Mom."

"No, I wouldn’t," Simone agreed, her smile aimed directly at me. "Some women just aren’t built to handle this life."

I didn’t defend myself. I didn’t argue. I didn’t even speak. I just removed my apron, folded it on the counter, and walked out of the kitchen. 

Their laughter echoed behind me as I went to the guest room. 

I grabbed my suitcase, packed my things—clothes, shoes, and the few personal items I still owned. My hands were shaking as I did, while my vision was  blurred with tears. My chest felt as if it were splitting open.

When I finished, I walked back downstairs with my suitcase. They saw me and laughed.

"Oh, she’s running away," Simone said, her voice dripping with mockery. "How predictable."

"Good riddance," Lucas sneered.

I didn't turn around.  Instead, I opened the front door, stepping out into the cold night, the weight of the world pressing down on me with each step that I took.  

The street was quiet. I had no plan, and no destination in my mind. 

Where would I go? 

The thought of wandering without any clear path made my chest tighten even more. I had no friends to call and Damian had made sure of that. Every inch of my life had been shaped around this house, this family, and now, everything was slipping away.

I took a few unsteady steps forward, my suitcase heavy in my hand. The streetlights cast long shadows, and the chill in the air cut through my thin clothes. I had nothing but my aching heart, my silent tears, and the cold air that surrounded me.

I was alone.

The realization alone stung. I wanted to scream, to shout out my frustration, but there was no one here to hear me. 

My thoughts haunted me. How had it all come to this? Why had I allowed myself to believe that it would get better? I thought I could make them love me, that if I gave everything, they would return it. 

But all I had received was mockery and indifference. I wasn’t their mother, not in their eyes. I was nothing more than a shadow, fading into the background.

I paused, my feet frozen to the ground as the sound of my breathing filled my ears. The quiet was suddenly broken by the sound of tires screeching sharp, and close. 

My head jerked to the left, and my heart hammered in my chest. A car was coming, but I couldn’t see it. The noise grew louder, and the rush of adrenaline hit me all at once.

I wanted to move, but my body refused to respond. 

My feet remained glued to the pavement, as panic seized my limbs. 

The car’s tires squealed again, louder this time, as if it were rushing straight toward me. I tried to turn, to look, and to make sense of the chaos, but everything around me felt as though it was spinning.

The sound of the car horn blared in my ears, followed by the sickening screech of metal on asphalt. My head snapped to the side just in time to see the headlights bearing down on me. My heart stopped in that instant.

Then there was an impact, as a sharp pain exploded through my body. 

My knees buckled beneath me, and I crumpled to the ground. I gasped for air, as the world around me faded  into a haze of swirling lights and sounds. 

I could hear the screeching of tires, the frantic shouts in the distance, but it all felt muffled, like I was trapped underwater, drowning in the moment.

The sharp sting of pain coursed through my chest, my legs, and my head. I tried to move, but my body betrayed me. 

My arms felt like they weighed a thousand pounds, and my legs were nothing but dead weight. Every breath I took was a struggle.

I could hear my heart pounding in my ears, but my mind was blank. All I could feel was the overwhelming pain and the cold that seeped into my bones.

The stars above me seemed so far away at that moment, distant and unreachable, as though they were mocking me for my weakness. For the life I had lived—a life where I gave everything and got nothing in return.

My vision dimmed, as I felt the last of my strength slipping away.

And in that final moment, I regretted everything. Every choice, every sacrifice. I regretted not leaving sooner.

Then, the world went dark.