“No.”

Troy’s voice was firm, final. “I’m not signing anything, Thalia.”

I turned to face him, my expression carefully blank. Every muscle in my body screamed to lash out, but I swallowed it all down. I’d been doing that for so long now.

“I’ll make it up to you,” he added, as if his words could erase everything that had already been done. “Don’t be so dramatic. Everything’s going to be alright. Now get in the car. Bianca’s tired from the trip. She needs to go home.”

I laughed—a loud, bitter sound that felt like it might rip me in half. There it was—the truth I’d known in my gut all along. I’d never get a divorce. Not from a man like him. Not unless I ran away.

But my visa wasn’t here yet, so I smiled faintly. Swallowed my pride. And slipped into the backseat of the car.

I would bear with it a little longer.

Bianca was beside Troy in the passenger seat, talking non-stop about their trip like it was some fairytale.

“We hiked the Matterhorn—it was freezing, but he carried me down the trail like a knight.” She went on, oblivious to everything else. “Then there was this sweet shop, and he bought the whole shelf because I couldn’t decide!”

“Troy even booked the entire rooftop of the Ritz for dinner. Candles and everything.”

I stared out the window, dead silent. Her giggles and his soft chuckles filled the space, but I didn’t respond. I couldn’t.

The rest of the ride passed in quiet torment, my chest tight with rage and helplessness.

That night, Bianca announced she’d cooked dinner.

“I made something for everyone! Come eat with us!” she chirped, her tone sweet, as though that would make up for all the damage she’d done.

I was about to refuse when Troy gave me that look—the one that said if I didn’t play nice, I’d be the problem.

“Bianca apologized. She’s trying, Thalia. Don’t be immature. She’s just a kid.”

A kid who split my skull open. I forced myself to sit down. My hands clenched under the table, white-knuckled as I stared at the steaming bowl of soup she’d placed before me.

Bianca beamed at me. “Try it. I added a secret spice.”

I hesitated, staring at the soup. Then I took a sip, trying to swallow my disgust. Something tingled at the back of my throat. Then that tingling turned to a violent burning.

I dropped the spoon. My chest tightened, the air choking from my lungs. My throat swelled, panic rising like a tidal wave.

Shrimp. Tiny bits of shrimp. The cruelest betrayal. I looked at Bianca through blurred vision. Her face was frozen in mock horror.

“Oh my god. I didn’t know! I didn’t mean—”

Liar. She always knew. Always.

I glanced at Troy. His eyes hardened—not in concern, but in irritation.

“Bianca, go upstairs. You don’t need to see this.”

And then he walked away. Left me there.

I staggered to the kitchen, my hands trembling as I fumbled through the drawers, searching for my EpiPen and allergy meds. My body was shutting down, but I fought to stay conscious. I swallowed a pill, just enough to stabilize myself.

An hour later, I collapsed in bed, utterly drained, barely hanging on to life. Sleep took me swiftly, mercifully.

When I woke, it was dark. Something felt… wrong. I got up slowly, my legs shaky. I made my way to my closet—and froze. The shelves were in disarray. My drawers were torn open. Boxes had been dumped out like someone had ransacked my room. And the velvet case that held my mother’s bracelet—gone

My pulse spiked. My stomach twisted with dread. I ran out of the room, heading for the backyard.

That’s when I saw her. Bianca. She stood by the pool in her swimsuit. Smiling. Wearing my bracelet.

The last thing my mother had ever given me before she died.

Something inside me snapped. I stormed over to her, grabbing her wrist with all the fury that had been building inside me for months.

“That’s mine,” I growled.

Bianca yanked her arm back, a defiant smirk twisting her lips.

“It looks better on me,” she taunted.

“You broke into my room.”

“So what?” she sneered.

The bracelet snapped in half during the struggle. The pieces scattered to the ground with a sickening crunch.

I saw red. The rage was all-consuming. I shoved her—hard.

She shrieked as she lost her balance, stumbling backward before plunging into the pool with a splash.

The sound echoed through the night. Water churned violently. And then… silence.

I stood there, breathing heavily, staring at the ruined pieces of my mother’s memory clutched in my hand. I didn’t regret it. Not for a second.

But then I heard her. Bianca. She was flailing in the pool, her arms waving wildly as she screamed for help. Her voice was panicked, desperate. “Help! Help! I can’t swim!”

I stood frozen, watching her flounder in the water. Her cries echoed, but I didn’t move. I didn’t offer her an ounce of sympathy.

She wasn’t a child. Not anymore. And in that moment, I realized I didn’t care if she drowned.

I watched Bianca flounder in the pool, her arms thrashing wildly. She was screaming for help, but I stood there, frozen. Every inch of me wanted to leave her there, to let her drown. After everything she’d done to me, she deserved it. The lies, the manipulation, the way she’d tormented me… I had no reason to save her.

But I couldn’t.

Troy would never forgive me if I let her die. He’d never forgive me if I let something happen to her, no matter what she’d done. I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t risk him turning on me, not when I was already hanging by a thread.

With a deep breath, I stepped toward the pool’s edge and extended my hand. My voice was low, barely above a whisper. “Grab my hand, Bianca. I’ll help you.”

She grabbed it, but the moment her fingers brushed mine, I felt a sharp yank. Without warning, she pulled me into the water, her grip tight around my wrist.

I gasped as the cold water surrounded me, my body sinking deeper. Panic surged through me. I couldn’t swim. I was going under.

Bianca’s smug face appeared in front of me, her lips curling into a vicious smirk.

“How dare you try to hurt me?” she spat, her eyes gleaming with malicious satisfaction. “You thought you could drown me and get away with it?”

I struggled, fighting to keep my head above water, but Bianca only tightened her grip.

“My brother never dared hurt me,” she sneered. “And now you think you can? You think you’re better than me?”

I kicked my legs, but the weight of her words only made it harder to breathe. My chest tightened.

“You’ll drown before I do,” she taunted, laughing. “I know you’re the one who doesn’t know how to swim, Thalia. You’ll drown. Just like I wanted.”

She pushed me further down. The cold water engulfed me, my body sinking deeper into the darkness. I gasped, trying to get air, but there was nothing but water, swallowing me whole.

I felt my strength fading. My limbs grew heavy. The world around me spun, the surface so far away.

Suddenly, I heard a voice.

“Troy!”

It was Bianca, her voice sharp and frantic. “She tried to drown me! She pushed me in!”

I heard the sound of footsteps rushing toward the pool. Troy’s voice followed, full of disbelief. “What’s going on?!”

I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t even lift my head anymore. I felt myself slipping, my body too weak to keep afloat. The water in my lungs burned, but I couldn’t fight it anymore.

“She tried to drown me!” Bianca screamed again, her voice full of triumph. “She pushed me in. She wanted me dead. She wanted to get rid of me!”

I could hear Troy, now closer, his voice shaking with anger. “What? What the hell are you talking about?”

I heard the sound of him tending to Bianca, pulling her out of the water, wrapping her in a towel. Her voice was full of mock hurt as she demanded help.

“Help me! She tried to kill me!” Bianca cried, her voice dripping with fake tears. “I’m so scared.”

And me? I was still sinking, still drowning, my vision darkening. I was too far gone to scream, too far gone to reach out for help. They wouldn’t help me. They never did.

The last thing I heard before I lost consciousness was the sound of Troy murmuring to Bianca, his voice soft and soothing as he tended to her. Then everything went black.

When I woke up, I was in my bed. My body ached, and I felt as if I had a fever. The heat was unbearable. My throat was dry, burning with each shallow breath.

Troy sat beside me, his face twisted in anger. “What the hell did you do, Thalia?”

I blinked, trying to focus, but everything felt like it was moving too fast. I couldn’t make sense of his words at first.

“Trying to kill Bianca? She’s here to help you, to make friends with you,” he scolded, his tone sharp and accusing.

I swallowed hard, trying to force my voice out, but it was strained, like speaking was too much of an effort. “She ruined… my mother’s bracelet.”

Troy’s expression hardened, his lips curling in disgust. “It was just a bracelet, Thalia. Just a piece of jewelry. I can buy you a thousand more if you want, but it doesn’t matter. It’s not worth all of this. It’s not worth trying to drown Bianca!”

My chest tightened. My throat felt like it was closing up again, the weight of his words suffocating me.

“She ruined it. She stole it. She—”

Troy cut me off, his voice sharp. “Enough! I don’t want to hear any of this!”

I flinched at the force of his words, but he didn’t stop. “Just take a rest, Thalia. Tomorrow, you’ll apologize to my sister. And then I’ll take both of you somewhere nice, so you can make it up to each other. I will not tolerate this in my house again!”

I stared at him, my mind spinning. I couldn’t process it. I couldn’t believe it. I had nearly drowned. I had been close to losing everything—and for what? For something that didn’t even matter to him.

His footsteps echoed as he walked out of the room, leaving me in the suffocating silence.

I was alone again.

And I couldn’t hold back anymore. Tears spilled down my cheeks, my body shaking with the weight of it all.

The fever had taken its toll. I was burning up, my skin flushed and clammy, but Troy insisted on taking care of me, hovering over me as if it would make up for everything he’d done.

He brought me water, checked my temperature every hour, and even tucked me in when I drifted off to sleep. It felt strange, this tender care, but I couldn’t bring myself to trust it. I knew better. I knew the truth, even if he didn’t think I did.

By the third day, the fever had broken. I was exhausted, but I could stand without swaying. The ache in my chest from everything that had happened didn’t fade, but at least the physical pain was gone.

Late that night, I couldn’t sleep. My throat was dry, and I felt the hunger creeping in, so I decided to go downstairs to grab something to eat. The house was quiet, too quiet, as I crept down the stairs, hoping not to wake anyone.

But as I turned the corner into the living room, I stopped dead.

Troy was sitting on the couch, his arm draped over Bianca’s shoulders. She was sleeping, her head resting against his chest, her legs tucked under a blanket. I was about to turn around and go back to my room when I saw it. Troy leaned down and kissed Bianca softly on the lips. My heart stopped.

He pulled away for a second, his voice low, barely audible. “I love you, Bianca. I’ve always loved you. I couldn’t say it before, but you’re the one for me.”

My breath hitched, a wave of cold nausea washing over me. I stepped back into the shadows, too stunned to move, my mind reeling.

I already knew the truth. I’d seen the way he looked at her, the way he took care of her, always defending her, always putting her first. But hearing him say those words—those words that were meant for me, once—cut deeper than I expected.

I fought to stay calm, to breathe through the pain. I wasn’t going to break down again. Not this time. I turned away and made my way back to my room, my mind a whirlwind of anger and heartbreak.

That night, as I lay in bed, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something had shifted. Everything was clearer now. The facade, the pretense, the lie that had been my life with Troy—it all collapsed in that moment. I couldn’t stay here anymore.

I pulled my laptop from the drawer and checked my email. The subject line made my heart race: Your Visa Has Been Approved.

And right beneath it, a message from my lawyer: The Divorce Papers Are Ready.

I stared at the screen, my hands trembling. It was happening. It was finally happening. I could leave. I could escape this nightmare.

I smiled to myself, a genuine smile. For the first time in what felt like forever, I felt a glimmer of hope.

The next morning, I made a call to my brother. “See you soon,” I whispered, the excitement in my chest blooming. “I’ll be there. I’ll be free.”

But fate had other plans.

As soon as Troy left for work, I started gathering my things. I couldn’t wait any longer. I was leaving today.

But the house felt wrong. The air was thick, and I couldn’t shake the unease gnawing at the pit of my stomach. I had just finished packing a bag when I heard the first crash. The sound of glass breaking echoed from downstairs. My heart leaped into my throat.

I rushed to the window and saw men—thugs, their faces obscured by masks—sneaking through the yard. The alarm system was blaring, but it was too late. They were already inside, and bodyguards were knocked out.

I ran to the door to warn Bianca, but I wasn’t fast enough.

They stormed into the room, grabbing me by the arms and pulling me away from the door. Bianca screamed as she tried to fight them off, but they overpowered her, too. We were trapped.

“Get them both,” one of the men growled, his voice rough.