Kira’s POV

“What are you talking about, Kira?” Donald asked, stepping toward me, his tall frame blocking out the light.

I quickly hung up the phone, my hand trembling so badly I almost dropped it. My cheeks were wet, streaked with tears I hadn’t realized were still falling.

“I… I was just talking about planning the best surprise wedding anniversary,” I lied, my voice shaking. “But now you know.”

The lie burned my throat, but I forced a smile through the tears.

Donald exhaled softly, as if relieved, and reached for me. Instinctively, I flinched back. Too fast. His eyes widened at the movement.

“Is there any problem, love?” he asked, brows creasing in false concern.

My chest cracked open with grief, and bitter words slipped past my lips. “Besides being betrayed and losing my parents?”

Donald’s sigh was long, heavy, practiced. “Kira, we don’t know if you were betrayed. It could have been a random attack. The police are working hard. In the meantime, you should rest. You need strength for when you’re discharged tomorrow.”

His voice was warm, gentle—too gentle. If I hadn’t overheard his conversation, I would have drowned in that tone, letting him cradle me into safety. But now, every word was venom. Every look, a lie.

How does he do it? I wondered, my stomach twisting. How does he stand there, holding my gaze, pretending to love me when I know he ruined me? When I know he ruined everything?

“Kira… why are you crying again?”

His voice was soft, puzzled, but the question sliced me. My hand went to my cheeks—wet, trembling. I hadn’t even noticed. My body was weeping on its own, mourning what my heart still refused to accept.

“I’d like to see my mom,” I choked out.

Donald’s expression hardened for a flicker of a second, then melted back into a mask of care. “Princess, I don’t think you can see her right now. She’s sedated. And you—you need to rest so you’ll be strong tomorrow.”

“No.” My voice cracked. “Please, I need to see her.”

His lips curved slightly in disgust but it quickly vanished and he smiled sweetly. “If it’ll put your heart at ease, I’ll ask the nurse. But only for a short while.”

He led me down the corridor, one arm steadying me. The weight of his hand on my back made my skin crawl.

When we entered the room, my legs almost gave out.

My mother lay on the bed, pale, lifeless. Both her legs were wrapped in thick casts. Her eyes—once so full of warmth and laughter—were wide open, staring blankly at the ceiling. Empty.

“Mom!” I rushed forward, grabbing her hand. It was ice cold. “It’s me—it’s Kira!”

But she didn’t blink. She didn’t squeeze my hand. She didn’t even flinch.

“She can’t respond,” Donald said quietly behind me. “The trauma was too much. The doctors say she may never recover.”

My chest split apart. “No… no, that can’t be true…”

I pressed her hand against my cheek, begging for warmth, for life. But she stayed frozen, broken.

The woman who once held me when nightmares chased me now lay trapped in one she could never wake from.

And Donald just stood there, his face painted with concern.

The same man who broke her mind. The same man who ordered this.

Tears blurred my vision until I couldn’t see her face anymore.

As Donald gently pulled me back toward the hallway, another voice rang out—sweet, syrupy, venomous.

“Kira?”

I froze. Lily stood there, one hand resting on her barely rounded stomach. Her eyes glistened with crocodile tears.

“I came as soon as I heard… Oh God, cousin, I’m so sorry. If I could give you my strength, I would. You still have me.”

The sight of her made bile rise in my throat. Pregnant. With Donald’s child.

My knees weakened, but I forced a smile. My lips trembled, but I said nothing.

Donald’s arm tightened around me, and I felt Lily’s smug gaze flick over me—her lips twitching upward for the briefest second before curving back into a mask of sorrow.

“I’ll leave you both to rest,” Lily whispered sweetly, brushing past me. But as she moved close, she bent slightly and murmured so only I could hear:

“Take care of yourself, cousin. You’ll need all your strength… to watch me give Donald the family you never could.”

Ice shot down my spine. My nails dug into my palms so hard I almost drew blood. My chest heaved, breath sharp and broken. Before I could think, my palm cracked against her cheek.

“You bitch!” I snarled.

Lily howled in sorrow, cupping her cheek, sobbing pitifully. Donald was by her side immediately, glaring at me as if I had struck him.

“How could you do that to her? Lily donated her bone marrow to save you and this is how you repay her!” Donald roared.

“It’s alright, Donnie. My cousin is stressed and sad. I don’t mind if she takes her anger out on me,” Lily whimpered, her voice thick with crocodile tears.

Donald cradled Lily in his arms, shielding her as though she were the broken one. “You should be ashamed, Kira. Lily hasn’t even been discharged and you’re already bullying her.”

“Don’t yell at her, Donnie, she’s hurting,” Lily whispered, playing the martyr.

“If you’ll keep acting this way, then I won’t come see you until you’ve apologized to Lily,” Donald snapped.

I scoffed, my chest tight with fury, and walked away, ignoring them. But not before I saw it—

Donald gently cupping Lily’s face, wiping her tears with such tenderness. “Don’t listen to her, Princess. She doesn’t mean it.”

That word—Princess. That’s what Donald used to call me but now I realized his real Princess had been Lily all along.

Those same hands destroyed me. That same voice whispered to me the same promises he gave Lily. How could I have been so stupid not to see it?

Something inside me shattered into sharp, jagged glass. By the time I got to my hospital room, my breathing was coming in sharp gasps.

My phone beeped and I opened it, it was a message from Ginny.

‘I’ve drafted the divorce agreement, it will be mailed to you tomorrow. I’ll book the flight soon. Shall we cancel the annual ceremony?’

I replied quickly, ‘No, the annual ceremony stays.’

I curled up into a ball, my shoulders shaking with tears. I’ll cry and let myself be broken for today because by tomorrow, there'll be no room for tears, just revenge.

Kira’s Pov

Donald stayed true to his words and never came back that night. The next morning, a nurse wheeled me to the hospital entrance with my bag balanced on my lap.

I kept glancing at the doors, waiting. Donald never came.

“Mrs. Reeds,” the nurse murmured, “your husband said he had an urgent meeting and something about an apology… Do you want me to call you a car?”

Urgent meeting. My laugh was bitter and hollow. Three years of marriage, and I wasn’t worth a ride home after nearly being killed.

I knew he wasn’t here because I had refused to apologize to Lily which is why he hadn’t shown up since last night.

Given another opportunity, I would slap her until her teeth chatter.

“Mrs. Reeds?” the nurse prompted.

I nodded stiffly. “Call it.”

When the car dropped me at the house, my chest twisted. It didn’t feel like home anymore, especially not after everything I’ve been through in the hands of the people who claimed to love me.

When I opened the door, Lily was there. In my robe. In my slippers. Her hand rested on her stomach like a crown, her face glowing as if she already owned everything that was mine.

The smell of frying eggs and butter drifted out of the kitchen. My stomach clenched. Donald’s laugh rang from inside.

I stepped forward—and froze.

Donald stood at the stove, wearing an apron, flipping pancakes. His eyes lit up when he saw Lily sitting at the counter. He leaned down, brushed her shoulder, whispered something that made her giggle.

He had never done this for me. Not once.

On our first anniversary, I had arranged a cooking date for us. Donald returned from work and turned his nose up with disgust.

“I spend all day at the office, Kira, the least you can do is give me a decent meal,” he had said.

“But I wanted us to do something cute together, cooking,” I said.

“Stop this nonsense fantasies, Kira, I’m allergic to cooking, I can’t be seen in the kitchen when my wife is around,” he had said ruthlessly.

That night I ignored his comment and he apologized with a flower. I figured he didn’t like being in the kitchen but how wrong have I been. He loved being in the kitchen just not for me.

When he finally noticed me, his smile turned into a frown but before he could speak Lily ran toward me, smiling.

“Hi, cuz, I hope you don’t mind me wearing your things. Donnie brought me back here last night to take care of me and I didn’t have anything to wear,” Lily smirked.

I flashed her a blank smile, “You can wear whatever you want, Lily.”

“Kira, you’re back,” he said.

I shrugged, “Why? Did you want me to remain in the hospital? Or perhaps, did you want me to die there?”

I saw the flicker of surprise flash across his face but he quickly brushed it off and glared at me.

“You’re back to talking nonsense again. You haven’t apologized to Lily for slapping her at the hospital yesterday,” he snapped.

I scoffed, “You’d be waiting for a long time then.”

“Kira, you —”

Lily interrupted him immediately, “That’s enough, Donnie, my cousin has been through so much.”

Then Lily turned an innocent eye towards me, “Come, join us for breakfast.”

“You should be grateful Lily has a forgiving heart, unlike you, Kira,” Donald stated.

Lily’s expression flickered between mock pity and smugness as she pulled out a chair. “Come, cousin. Sit. Eat with us. Let’s not fight anymore.”

My fists clenched at my sides, but I kept my face blank.

Donald placed a plate in front of me, steaming with food. “I made your favorite.”

The sight of it made bile rise in my throat. I shoved the plate away.

Donald’s jaw tightened. “What’s this? You’re rejecting the meal I made with my own hands? After everything, Kira?”

My lips twisted into a bitter smile. “That’s not my favorite. That’s Lily’s.”

For a heartbeat, his face faltered. Guilt flickered. But then he recovered, shoving the plate back toward me. “Does it matter whose favorite it is? Just eat.”

I lifted my eyes burning with anger as I glared at him. “After three years of marriage… you still don’t know I’m allergic to this.”

The words sliced through the air like a blade. Donald froze.

Silence fell. Lily’s fork clinked softly against the plate as she pretended to be shocked.

I pushed back my chair and rose, my legs trembling but my voice steady. “Keep your food. I won’t touch it.”

I walked down the hall, my hands shaking as I opened the door to the room I’d lived in for three years. My room. Not ours. Never ours.

He’d said he liked privacy. That he needed space.

Lies. All of it lies.

I began pulling things down from the shelves. Wedding photos. Framed portraits. Jewelry boxes. Gifts he had given me on anniversaries. Each one landed in the suitcase with a dull thud. My hands trembled, but I forced myself to keep packing. Every memory was poisonous now.

The door creaked open.

Donald stood there, Lily at his side, her belly cradled like a prize. His lips curved into a smirk.

“It’s good you’re finally doing something right,” he said smoothly. “You know Lily has to move in. She even donated her bone marrow for you despite being pregnant. The least you can do is take care of her.”

I laughed, sharp and broken. “Donated her bone marrow? Don’t insult my intelligence. She didn’t give me anything. And why should I take care of her? Is she pregnant for you, Donald?”

His eyes narrowed, hard and cold. “Ungrateful. You’ve always been ungrateful and talking nonsense.”

At his side, Lily sniffled, tears glistening in her eyes. “Donnie, please… don’t fight. I’ll go back home. I don’t want to make Kira uncomfortable.”

Donald wrapped an arm around her shoulders instantly. “You’re not going anywhere. This is your room now. Kira will take care of you.”

My chest burned, but my face stayed calm. “She can have it all, even the house, I don’t care anymore.”

Donald rolled his eyes, “Stop being dramatic, Kira, it’s just a bedroom. You can use the guestroom.”

I zipped the suitcase shut and lifted it. But before I could take a step, Donald’s voice cracked like a whip.

“Wait.”

I turned slowly. His eyes gleamed with something cruel.

“Give Lily your necklace. The one your father gave you. She needs it—to protect her from nightmares.”

The breath caught in my throat. My hand flew to the chain around my neck. The necklace was the last piece of my father I had left. His blessing. His memory. His love.

And Donald wanted me to hand it to her.

My fingers tightened around it, pressing it into my skin until it hurt.

Kira’s Pov

Lily gasped softly, eyes wide with mock innocence. “Donnie, no… I can’t take that from her.” But the way her lips twitched upward told me everything. She wanted it. She wanted everything.

Donald’s jaw hardened. “She doesn’t need it. You do. Kira, be reasonable for once in your life. Give it to her.”

I laughed, a sound sharp and broken, slicing the air like shattered glass. “Reasonable? You took my father, my mother, my body, my dignity. And now, you want the only piece of him I have left?”

Lily pressed a trembling hand to her stomach, tears glistening. “Please, cousin… don’t cry, you can keep the necklace, I’ll just deal with the nightmare.”

“How can you be so cruel, Kira, just give her the damn necklace!” Donald snapped.

My vision blurred red. My nails bit into my palms until I nearly bled. My voice dropped to a whisper, low and lethal.

“Take it, then. Take the necklace.”

I unclasped the necklace with trembling hands and dropped it into her palm. The weight of it left me, but so did the last shred of weakness I’d been clinging to.

Lily cried out suddenly, “It hurts!”

I turned to see the look of horror on her face as Donald examined her hand, his face twisted in anger.

“You gave her this necklace with evil intentions, now you’ve hurt her!” he spat and before I knew it, he grabbed the necklace and tossed it into the fireplace.

“No!” I cried, exclaiming in shock,” Donald said to her, ignoring my cries.

As I lay, sprawled on the floor, trying to pull out the necklace from the flames I saw the smug look on Lily’s face as Donald carried her out.

—

The morning light filtered weakly through the curtains, but instead of warmth, it brought cold reality.

When I walked into the dining room, I stopped dead in my tracks. Lily was seated at the head of the table—my seat—draped in silk, her hand resting on her belly as though she were already mistress of the house. Donald stood behind her, massaging her shoulders, his face lit with a smile I had once thought belonged only to me.

“Good morning,” he said smoothly, not even glancing at me before pressing a kiss to Lily’s hair. “You should learn from Lily, Kira. She’s gentle, forgiving, everything you’re not.”

“Good morning, Cuz, I hope you slept well. Don’t mind Donnie, he means no harm,” Lily said, giggling.

The staff moved quietly around us, but their eyes lingered. My chest squeezed with shame.

I moved toward my old chair, but Donnie’s voice cut through the silence. “Oh, Kira, sit here instead.”

He pointed to the small wooden stool the servants used when they were off duty. His lips curled faintly upward.

He chuckled. “That’s more fitting for you anyway until you stop bullying Lily.”

The humiliation burned like acid, but I bit my tongue until it bled. I sat, lifting my chin high, refusing to let either of them see me break.

Donald served Lily first, cutting her pancake into neat pieces, his voice dripping with admiration. “See how she glows, Kira, you should learn from Lily.”

I smiled smugly, “I intend to learn from you both.”

Later, when I returned to my room, my heart sank. The closet was empty. My clothes, my books—all gone.

“Donald,” I hissed when I found him in the hallway. “Where are my things?”

“Oh,” he said casually, “Lily needed more space. So, your things were moved upstairs to the attic. You don’t mind, do you?”

“I do mind,” I snapped. “She already has my room, why did she have to bring her things to the guestroom?”

“Stop being dramatic, Kira, it’s not like you need those things you aren't going anywhere anytime soon,” Donald said, as he walked away.

That afternoon, Lily came into my room while Donald was gone. She leaned against the doorway, her belly outlined by her fitted dress, her eyes glittering with victory.

“Do you like how things are now, cousin?” she asked, her tone honeyed poison. “This is just the beginning. Soon, this house, his name, his love—everything will be mine.”

My teeth ground together. “You’ve already taken enough.”

Lily’s laugh rang out, sharp and mocking. “Enough? Oh, Kira, you have no idea. Donnie never wanted you. He used you. You were just the ladder. And now that he’s at the top, you’re nothing but rotten wood.”

The rage boiled inside me, but before I could retort, footsteps echoed in the hallway. Donald appeared.

“What’s going on here?”

Lily’s face shifted instantly—crocodile tears welling, voice breaking. “Donnie… I think Kira is upset with me. I didn’t mean to upset her. I told her she can hurt me if it helps her heal, I don’t mind. I just don’t want her to hate me.”

Donald’s glare cut into me like steel. “Kira! Lily has done nothing but care for you. And this is how you repay her?”

I laughed bitterly. “Care for me? She’s mocking me—”

“Enough!” Donald barked. “You should be grateful you have a cousin like her. You don’t deserve her kindness.”

Lily clutched his arm like a wounded saint, whispering, “Donnie, please don’t scold her. She’s hurting.”

The venom in her eyes met mine over his shoulder. And just like that, the devil played angel, and he swallowed every word.

By evening, I couldn’t take it anymore. I opened my suitcase where I hid the divorce papers Ginny had sent. My heart pounded as I walked into the study.

“Donald,” I said calmly, placing the documents on the desk. “You need to sign this. It’s for company accounts. Ginny asked me to have you handle it quickly.”

He picked it up and was about to read it when Lily’s voice sounded from the hall, “Donnie, please come, my legs hurt.”

Donald immediately turned, forgetting I was even there. I could have been a shadow. Or less.

He closed the document and scowled, “Later, I need to check on Lily.”

“Now,” I pressed. “She said it was urgent.”

He huffed, picked up the pen, and without reading a word, scrawled his name across the bottom.

“Happy now?”

Before I could respond, Lily’s voice floated from the hall again. “Donnie! Come here, I need you!”

His face softened instantly. “Coming, Princess.” He tossed the papers at me and strode out without a second thought.

I stared down at the signed divorce agreement, my fingers trembling as I lifted it. A bitter smile curved my lips.

Now I just had one more thing to do and I’ll leave this hellhole with my mother.