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660words2026-01-27 09:13

I burst into Ethan Grant's office, eager to share the big news.
I'm pregnant!
We're going to have a baby!

But then I saw him.
Arms wrapped around Evelyn Bennett—my sister in law—stroking her hair like she was something fragile.
I froze on the spot.
“Sorry, bad timing.”
I backed out slowly.
I shut the door behind me.

I leaned against the wall, my hand resting on my still-flat stomach.
Sorry, little one, it looks like Daddy might not be part of our story anymore.
Evelyn.
The sister who's resented me since the day I stepped into her picture-perfect life.

…
I've been married to Ethan for five years now.
But before that?
He was Evelyn's high-school first love.
Our wedding was nothing more than a business arrangement that went off the rails.
The Grants and Bennetts are old money, running San Francisco's real estate and petrol businesses.
They're the ultimate power couples.
Their engagement was the talk of the town.
Then, just a week before the wedding, their rivals kidnapped Evelyn.
I was with her that day, shopping for her wedding dress.
I got taken by the thugs too.
They handed Evelyn over to a crime boss's son.
Then locked me in a pitch-dark room.
For three whole days.
No food.
No water.
Nothing but sheer terror and a bright light bulb kept shining day and night.
We eventually got out, thanks to the rescue from police.
But Evelyn was... shattered.
Her family packed her off to Switzerland to recover her mental issues.
To hush up the scandal, both families paid off the media.
The power party needs a union.
So.
The wedding went ahead as planned.
Except I was the one walking down the aisle.
Lost in my memories, the office door suddenly swung open.
Ethan looked… uncomfortable and kind of awkward.
“Hey, Olivia, please come in.”
I gripped the doorframe tightly.
I shook my head.
I couldn't bring myself to face Evelyn's face.
Not again...
I was ten years old the first time I entered the Bennett's mansions.
It felt like another world compared to my mom's cramped apartment.
Marble floors everywhere.
Glistening chandeliers. A pool glittering under the bright California sun.
The housekeeper escorted me out to the garden.
And there she was.
Evelyn.
Swinging in an expensive sundress, her hair shining like gold.
She looked like a storybook princess.
I just stared at her.
Like a dumb country girl from no where.
I think... At that moment, I was utterly self-abased.
She hopped down gracefully.
Glided toward me.
I shifted nervously, my fingers clutching my worn-out jeans.
Evelyn leyed me from head to toe.
My scuffed-up sneakers.
My thrift-store shirt.
The dull glasses I've been wearing since elementary school.
I wanted to vanish.
“You must be Olivia?”
I mumbled, “Yeah.”
She grabbed my hand enthusiastically. “I'm Evelyn! Your sister in law!”
Back in those days, she was actually very kind to me.
Almost like a real sister to me.
Her mother? My stepmom?
She despised me from the moment we met.
But that's understandable.
My mom was the other woman for her.
I was the living, breathing reminder, as the scars of her marriage.
Then Stepmom overdosed on pills.
I guess, I'm the cancer that triggers her depressive mood.
After that, Evelyn started looking at me, like I was toxic.
...
Snap back the memories.
“Liv? Are you coming in?”
Evelyn's voice, smooth as ever.
Walked inside, I perched on the edge of the sofa, my knuckles turning white from gripping my skirt.
Evelyn sat right beside Ethan.
Her postures acting like she owned the room.
Her eyes were red and puffy from crying.
Playing the delicate, wounded victim.
“Liv,” she began her drama, “your marriage to Ethan had been always just… a business move. There was never any real love involved.”
“Now that I'm back—”
“I know.”
I cut her off.
Looked up to both of them.
“I'll sign the divorce papers, Ev. Today.”