Elena's grip on the phone tightened until her knuckles turned white. Panic rose in her chest so fast it nearly choked her. Her breath hitched, and the room seemed to tilt, as if the air had suddenly vanished from the sudden surprise.
Her hand flew to her mouth, muffling a broken sob. Tears slipped down her cheeks in a rush she could not control. Her fingers shook around the phone.
"Sweetheart," she whispered, her voice splitting. "Are you alright? Please tell me where you are. I will come for you. Just speak to me."
Charles did not reply at once. He only watched her with a strange, cold amusement, as if her fear delighted him. He leaned back in his chair, relaxed and smug, his smile sharpening.
A voice spoke from somewhere behind him. "I told you. She is losing her mind."
Elena froze. Her heart stuttered. She knew that voice. She knew it too well. But her mind refused to accept what her ears had heard. She kept her eyes on Charles, clinging to the hope he would explain everything.
"Please, my love," she begged. "Where are you? I cannot breathe without you. Tell me something."
A soft, cruel laugh drifted through the call. It was cold. Mocking. Almost playful in the worst way.
"Eyyah," the voice teased. "Just look at her."
The camera shifted.
Chloe stepped into view.
Elena's entire body went cold. Her fingers loosened involuntarily, and the phone almost slipped from her hand.
Chloe wrapped her arms around Charles from behind, her smile bright and wicked. She tilted his chin up and kissed him. Slow. Deep. Intimate.
Elena felt something break inside her. Her stomach twisted. Her mind went blank. She stared at them, unable to speak, unable to even breathe.
Chloe pulled back, eyes gleaming with shameless delight. She leaned closer to the screen and smiled sweetly.
"Hey, girlfriend," she taunted. "Sorry about the interruption. You know, Charles was never yours. You just borrowed him."
Elena's lips parted, but no sound came out. Her throat had closed completely.
Chloe's smile sharpened. "But I won't spoil the fun. You will put the pieces together soon."
She moved closer to the camera, her expression dripping with venom. "You have been searching for a reason to end your miserable little life. I think you finally found it."
Elena's stomach dropped. Her vision blurred.
Chloe's laugh rang through the call. Sharp. Cruel. Pleased.
"And one more thing," she added, her tone almost bored. "Your father's estate has been sold. Your shares in the company are gone too. Everything he left you is now in someone else's hands."
She shrugged as if she were talking about the weather. "Do not hate me too much. I am only paying you back for what your mother did to my father."
The words crashed into Elena like a blow.
A loud ringing filled her ears. Her breath disappeared. The phone slipped from her hand and hit the floor.
A scream tore from her throat before she could stop it.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
She collapsed onto her bed and curled into a ball, her body shaking violently. Her sobs came from somewhere deep, raw enough to rip her voice apart.
The door flew open.
Stella rushed in, panic written all over her face. "Elena! What happened?"
Elena did not look up. She rocked back and forth, hugging herself as tears kept falling.
Stella spotted the phone on the floor and grabbed it, but the call had already ended. Fear tightened her features as she turned back to Elena.
"Elena, talk to me," she pleaded. "Was it Charles' kidnappers? Did they call you? Please say something. You are frightening me."
Elena's head snapped up. Her eyes were red, swollen, and burning with a rage Stella had never seen in her.
"GET OUT!" she screamed. Her voice was raw and trembling. "GET OUT OF MY ROOM. NOW!"
Stella flinched at the sudden scream. The shock on her face was clear, but she forced herself to breathe steadily. "I was only trying to help," she whispered. She rose from the bed and backed out quietly, closing the door with a soft click.
A few minutes passed before the door creaked open again. Stella, now sitting on the couch downstairs, looked up.
Elena was coming down the stairs already dressed in leggings and an oversized sweatshirt. She looked like someone heading out for a morning run, but the red, swollen eyes told another story. Beneath all the exhaustion, a sharp anger burned in her gaze.
Stella jumped up. "You're awake. Where are you going? Let me drive you. I'm not letting you go around alone."
Elena straightened, her shoulders stiff. "I'll be fine, Stella," she said. Her voice was steadier now, but still thin. "And I'm sorry for yelling earlier."
Stella lifted a hand. "Don't worry about that. I know you're carrying too much on your chest. You'll get through this."
Elena tried to smile. It wobbled but stayed. "Thank you. I just need to check something. I won't be long."
She didn't wait for Stella to reply. She grabbed her keys and walked out.
---
The moment Elena sat behind the wheel, she dialed Mr. Clifford.
"Miss Moretti," he answered brightly. "I was just about to call you. I assume you already know the transfer went through?"
Elena's grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Chloe sold my shares?"
"Yes. The documents carried your signature, so we assumed it came from you."
Elena's stomach flipped. "That's impossible. I never…" She cut herself off. "Never mind."
She hung up and immediately called her father's estate attorney.
He answered after two rings. "Miss Moretti. I suppose this is about the sale?"
Silence stretched for a few seconds.
"Sold," he confirmed. "I'll admit, it surprised us, but the paperwork came from your end, so we followed your instructions."
Elena ended the call without a word.
A dry laugh escaped her, sharp and broken. It echoed inside the quiet car like a crack running across glass.
---
She drove for a long while, letting the road swallow her thoughts. Betrayal, grief, and disbelief circled her like a storm with no eye.
She finally stopped beneath a bridge overlooking a calm lake. The wind was strong here, tossing her hair across her face as she stepped out.
She walked toward the edge. The water below was dark and deep, almost inviting in its cold silence.
Her voice wavered. "Chloe… I trusted you like a sister. And Charles… you were everything to me." Her throat tightened. "I lost my parents, and I begged the universe not to let me lose anyone again. But I never imagined betrayal could cut deeper than death."
She wiped her cheeks, even though the tears kept coming. "The two of you took everything. And you left me with nothing."
The wind tugged at her clothes. Her breath trembled. She stepped forward.
She jumped.
---
Elena's eyes fluttered open to harsh white lights above her. The ceiling blurred for a moment, then sharpened. Her body felt heavy, wrapped in a dull ache, and the slow, steady beeping beside her confirmed she was alive.
A nurse at her bedside let out a relieved breath. "You're finally awake, ma'am."
Elena swallowed, her throat painfully dry. "Where… where am I?"
"The hospital," the nurse said as she adjusted the IV line with practiced hands. Her eyes flicked toward Elena, studying the pale face on the pillow. After a short pause, she spoke again, this time more cautiously. "What exactly were you thinking, jumping off that bridge?"
Elena blinked slowly. Her thoughts were scattered, floating in pieces, until they finally snapped back into place. The memories hit her all at once. Betrayal. The call. The water. The fall.
Her chest tightened. She turned her face away, unable to meet the nurse's eyes. "You should have let me die," she whispered.
The nurse let out a small, humorless chuckle, almost like she had heard those words too many times from too many broken souls. "Then thank the man who pulled you out," she said. She folded her arms and added dryly, "But even if you have given up on your own life, what about the innocent one inside you? Do you plan to take that child down with you too?"
Elena frowned weakly. "What innocent life are you talking about?"
The nurse froze for half a second. "Oh… you didn't know?"
She sighed, the kind of sigh that said she wished someone else had been the one to deliver this news. "Ma'am, you are pregnant. About three weeks along."
Elena's breath hitched. "I am… what?"
"Pregnant," the nurse repeated in a steady tone, as if grounding her to the truth.
Elena stared at her in disbelief. Her hands shook as they moved on their own, pressing gently against her lower stomach. A baby. A life growing inside her.
A child that belonged to Charles.
Her heartbeat echoed loudly in her ears. A cold wave swept through her, mixing fear with confusion. The world she thought had already fallen apart suddenly shifted again beneath her. What was she supposed to do now?