Two months later, the fallout came, not in whispers or shameful glances, but in screams… and blood. I felt it before I saw it, warm and terrifying, trickling down my legs.
~*~
Year 2025
~Two months after the party.
"A pregnancy test? And now blood?"My father's voice thundered. "You filthy disgrace! Who is he?! Tell me, I'll kill you both!"
His voice reverberated through the marble halls of the Li mansion, each word soaked in fury. His face was crimson, veins pulsing with rage, raw, and undiluted, almost theatrical in its intensity. He would kill me, no doubt.
Drake Li, ever the proud puppet-master, was deceived by his own daughter, purposely or not, he didn't care. To him, Bella was everything. Polished and perfect. Blonde hair, blue eyes, the picture of what he wanted his legacy to look like. Me? I was the willing, raised in the countryside, and a piece he kept tucked away, just in case he needed a sacrifice. He didn't care how the mistake happened. Only that I made one. And mistakes must be punished.
"I don't know! Dad, please…" My voice cracked, hoarse and helpless. But I didn't even get the chance to finish. Like I had an answer already.
"She didn't show up to the party I planned because she was off sleeping with some stranger," Bella sneered, her voice dripping with fake concern and smug satisfaction. "What a little whore you are. You've tainted our family name, our prestige with your recklessness."
Our family name. I could've laughed if it didn't burn so much.
Prestige? Please. This wasn't funny!
The money, the mansion, the Li name, none of it belonged to my father. It all came from my mother. The real Li. The one they buried in the ocean and erased from their minds, like she'd never existed. My father only changed his name after marrying her, as if that made him something more.
And now I'm the stain?
My vision tunneled. The blood in my ears roared louder than Bella's smug voice. And before I could stop myself, my palm connected with her face, fast, sharp, unforgiving. I felt good, despite the killing pain in my belly, in my bones. The crack echoed like a gunshot across the pristine white marble.
Bella stumbled back, eyes wide with fake innocence, voice shrill. What a pretender! She had mastered it secretly.
"Sister! Why are you hitting me? It's not my fault you slept with some random man and got yourself pregnant!"
As always, Bella's crocodile tears flowed right on cue. How could I forget this? That she would never change! Her eyes welled up, her lower lip trembling like she'd rehearsed it in front of a mirror. She clutched her reddening cheek with trembling fingers, casting the perfect pitiful glance toward my father, his precious little actress.
"How dare you hit my daughter?" Fiona snapped, heels clicking furiously across the marble as she charged toward me.
But I was faster. Her hand swung up, but I caught her wrist mid-air. And then I slapped her. Hard!
The sound echoed through the air like thunder, just like with Bella, her head jerked to the side, strands of perfectly styled hair whipping loose.
Mr. Li's fury exploded behind me. Why Mr. Li? Because he never acted like a father to deserve that title.
"You ungrateful tiny crap!" he growled, his hand rising to strike.
I stepped back, just in time. He missed. I didn't flinch. I didn't cower. I just stared at him, my face blank, my eyes cold, my heart even colder. My body was screaming from the inside, pain twisting in places I couldn't even name. But I didn't make a sound. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction. Because this wasn't just physical. I was broken in ways they couldn't see.
They didn't care what I had to say. No one even asked what happened that night. As if I had chosen this. As if I could remember anything besides heat, confusion, and that voice.
And yet, how strange, isn't it?
These two wolves in sheep's clothing didn't even bother hiding their fangs. Not now. Not when the setup had gone perfectly. It almost felt like they'd been waiting for this moment.
No, not waiting. Planning it. My twisting and churning guts could feel it.
"You savage girl! Get the hell out of my house! I will never accept your bastard child!"
The words sliced through me, sharp and final. But I didn't shrink or cry. The light in my eyes may have dimmed, but I stood still.
My father, Drake Li, was blind to the truth. And I? I wasn't the type to beg. Not for love. Not for pity. Not even for shelter.
I turned my gaze one last time toward the mansion. The place my mother designed. The halls where her laughter used to echo, where she held my hand and told me I was her masterpiece. This wasn't how it would end. Not for me. Not for her memory.
"Enjoy my mother's legacy for five more years," I voiced grimly, keeping my tone low but laced with ice and menace. "After that, I'll come back. And I'll take everything."
Then I turned on my heel and walked out. Behind me, the house erupted, shouts, curses, shrieks. I didn't look back. Let Fiona gorge herself on stolen gold. Let Bella preen in fake pearls. Let them think they'd won. One day, that feast would end.
As I stepped outside, the cold air bit into my skin like punishment. Rain poured down in sheets, soaking me to the bone within seconds. I glanced toward my car, parked crookedly near the gate.
A bitter smirk tugged at my lips. No way in hell was I going back inside just to fetch the remote. They probably wouldn't even let me pick up a fallen coin from that house now.
I exhaled, popped open my soaked bag, and pulled out my phone. My fingers trembled just like my knees, not from the cold, but from everything else. I was even mad at myself. I didn't even know who I slept with.
"Lilly, can you come and get me from the house?"
Her voice came through immediately. "Why does your voice sound like that?"
"Just come. I'm waiting."
I hung up before she could press further. Words were too heavy right now.
Instead, I moved to the far side of the gate, slipping into a shadowed corner, away from the glaring front lights. The rain masked my tears, if any were left to fall.
Twelve years ago, my mother died in a car crash, I was just eight. They said her brakes failed. That her car flipped and plunged into the ocean. The police searched for her body for days. They found nothing. Eventually, they said the currents had probably taken her away. Just like that. Gone.
After the police report, my father never bothered to dig deeper. He didn't fight for the truth. Didn't search for her. Didn't question how a woman so meticulous, so careful, could crash off a cliff. I always blamed him, my father. That night, he came home with his mistress and a little girl—Bella—clinging to her hand like a doll. She was seven. Fiona stood beside him like she belonged there, chin high, smile smug.
"We'll be living together now," he declared sternly, like it was nothing.
My mother broke into pieces, and I was standing there, witnessing it. They fought, he and my mother. The kind of fight that leaves the walls humming long after the shouting stops.
"You're a two-timing asshole who married me for my money! Now, you are successful thanks to my reputation and have cheated on me." My mother screamed as she stormed out.
It was raining that night. Stormy, angry skies, just like tonight. She never came back. After that, I became a problem child. I made sure of it. I wanted to take revenge upon all of them, for not stopping my mom from leaving, for destroying her life, our life.
I hated Fiona and my dad. I hated Bella. I made their lives hell in every way an eight-year-old girl could. My punishment? He packed me off to the countryside to live with my grandfather—his father—and left me there like a discarded suitcase. He never visited. Not once.
I didn't return until I was sixteen… the day Grandpa died. Even then, I kept to myself because I promised my grandpa to be a good girl and survive. I didn't speak to them. I barely looked them in the eye. Until that cruise trip.
We were sailing along the coast, on some family vacation they insisted on. I fell overboard, slipped during a curious look at the ocean, and the water dragged me under. And it was Fiona who dove in after me. She saved my life.
I started to see them differently after that. I opened up, got closer to Bella. I shared my stuff, my art, my secrets. I thought she was cute… even adorable. I started to believe maybe, just maybe, I had a family again. But… Behind that soft, lovely face… A devil was scheming.
The memories faded, leaving my mind spinning, my body aching. I blinked, dragging myself back to the present.
Ten minutes had passed. Rain still poured relentlessly, drenching my clothes until they clung to my skin like ice. My arms were numb. My lips were cold. But I stayed there, frozen in the shadows near the gate. Then, a movement stole my attention.
A tall figure approached from the far side of the property. His face was partially hidden, a cap pulled low over his brow, shadows cloaking his features. He didn't see me. Not in the dark. My breath caught.
Was he a stalker?