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.

Kira’s Pov

After Donald signed the divorce papers without reading it he hadn't come back to know what he signed. He spent the rest of his night with Lily attending to all her needs.

The following morning I stood in front of the mirror, combing my hair back with trembling fingers.

My father deserved a proper burial, and I needed to see my mother at the hospital to know how she's doing.

Today, I was going to the office. Today, I would set my plan in motion and watch them fall into my trap like the greedy worms that they are.

When I came downstairs, Donald was waiting with Lily at his side. She wore one of my silk robes again, hand cradling her stomach as though it were royalty.

“Where are you going all dressed up?” he asked me.

I considered ignoring him but I knew he'd never let me be.

“I’m going to the office. I need to know how my father’s company is doing, it’s been days since I went there last,” I answered.

“You can’t go,” Donald said firmly, his eyes narrowing. “Not to the office. Not after everything you’ve been through. You need to heal.”

Lily’s voice floated like honey laced with poison. “Donnie’s right, cousin. You went through… such horrors. You shouldn’t carry this burden. The company can wait.”

My jaw clenched. “My father is dead. My mother is in the hospital. The company is all I have left. I will go.”

Donald’s lips thinned. “Kira—”

“I have to do my best,” I cut in, my voice steady.

And without waiting for permission, I walked out.

—

The boardroom fell silent the moment I entered. Twelve men sat in their seats, eyes wide with something between shock and disgust.

One of them—a man who had kissed my father’s hand at every meeting—stood up abruptly. “Mrs. Reeds, you… you can’t be here.”

I frowned. “Can’t? This is my father’s company. His blood built these walls. Why can’t I?”

Murmurs rippled through the room. Another cleared his throat. “If the investors see you here, they’ll pull out. The company will collapse.”

“Collapse?” My laugh was sharp and hollow. “My family was slaughtered in our home. I was dragged through hell. And this—this is how you treat me?”

The man hesitated, then nodded toward the television mounted on the wall. “It’s not how we see it, Mrs. Reeds. It’s how everyone else does.”

He pressed a button and the screen flickered to life. That’s when I saw it.

Me. My body. Stripped. Pinned down. But the sounds—my screams—were gone. Replaced with soft moans. My face twisted not in pain, but in… pleasure.

My stomach dropped. My knees buckled. “No…” I whispered. “No, no, no. That’s not—”

The room blurred.

The board member’s voice was cold. “The world believes you were… entertaining multiple men while your parents were killed. Their faces were blurred, but yours… yours is clear.”

Tears spilled before I could stop them. My voice cracked, raw and broken. “It’s fake. They altered it! I was raped. I was screaming. I—”

Another cut me off. “The video was verified. Multiple agencies confirmed its authenticity. We can’t risk the company’s reputation. You need to step down.”

The walls closed in. I could barely breathe.

And then—

“Enough.”

The voice boomed like thunder.

Uncle Henry strode in, his face red with fury, his suit immaculate. “How dare you attack my niece like this? She is the daughter of this company’s founder! Shame on you all!”

For a moment, his mask almost fooled me. His arms outstretched, his voice dripping with false outrage. To them, he was the savior.

But I knew better. If I hadn't overheard Donald’s conversation, I would have been fooled by him.

I stared at him, hatred burning through my tears. My lips trembled. The word slipped out before I could stop it. “Why?”

Henry thought I meant the board. His arm came around my shoulders, fatherly and protective. “Don’t cry, Kira. They’re fools. Focus on healing. I will make sure the truth comes out.”

I almost laughed in his face. Instead, I let the tears fall, hating myself for every drop.

“Let me carry this weight for you,” he said softly. “For now, sign over the company to me. Just until you’ve recovered.”

My hands trembled as I signed the transfer documents. His eyes gleamed with triumph.

But as I slid the pen back across the table, a bitter smile tugged at my lips. You think you’ve won. You haven’t seen me yet.

Ginny was waiting outside, her eyes wide with worry. “Mrs. Reeds?”

I inhaled sharply, fighting for air. “The flight. Did you book it?”

“Yes. Tomorrow evening.”

“Good. And the information I asked for?”

She nodded. “Everything is ready. And… about the annual banquet—shall I cancel it?”

“No,” I said, my voice steel. “The banquet stays. Tomorrow night, I’ll make my final move. Then we leave with my mother.”

Ginny swallowed and nodded.

—

But when I reached the hospital, my world shattered again.

“What have you done with my mother? Why isn't she in her room?” I roared with anger.

The doctor wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Mrs. Reeds… I’m so sorry. Your husband signed the papers. We performed a merciful termination, he said he didn't want your mother to suffer anymore. Your mother’s organs were donated. Her heart went to your cousin’s mother.”

My knees gave way. “What… what did you just say?”

He handed me an urn. Cold. Heavy. My mother—reduced to ash.

“This is impossible,” I whispered. “She was alive yesterday—how could you—”

The doctor lifted a document. My signature stared back at me. It was forged.

“He said you agreed with him. He gave us this signed document,” the doctor said.

Rage tore through me. “This isn’t mine! How dare you—”

And then the voice I hated most filled the room.

“Cousin,” Lily sang sweetly, stepping inside, a radiant smile on her lips. “Thank you. You saved my mother. Even though your own had to die for it.”

My chest split in two.

She tilted her head, her eyes glittering. “Honestly, I didn’t think Donald would do it. But he did. He killed your mother… to save mine.”

Her laughter was poisonous, her eyes gleaming with hatred.

“Leave, Kira. Donald never loved you. He never will. You were only the placeholder to warm his bed until I arrived.”

My voice shook. “Aren’t you tired of pretending? I already know everything you and your father did to my family.”

Her smile sharpened. “Pretend? Oh, cousin. I won. That’s all that matters. And your character?” She leaned close, whispering. “Ruined so you can't do anything to redeem yourself.”

She paused, then grinned wider. “Do you know what I loved most? The way your mother screamed while they broke her legs. Blood. Bone. Her voice begging. It was delicious.”

Something inside me snapped.

“I’m going to kill you, bitch!” I yelled.

My hand flew. The slap cracked across her cheek. My fists tangled in her hair as I yanked, her shrieks echoing down the hall.

And then—

“Enough!”

Donald’s voice roared like thunder.

I froze. He stood in the doorway, eyes blazing in horror, watching as I dragged his precious Lily to the ground.