The silence in her childhood home was louder than any slap.
The house smelled the same _ lemon polish and cold judgment, and it made her stomach twist.
Melanie stood at the threshold, still in the wrinkled dress she'd worn to the bar. Her hair was matted, her lips dry, and her hands trembled slightly at her sides. But more than anything else, her heart felt like it had been dragged through a pit of shattered glass. She needed answers.
She hadn't come for comfort. She didn't expect hugs. But she couldn't leave without knowing why, why the people who raised her stood by and watched her fall.
They all had an explanation to give.
She opened the door and stepped in, only for her mother's shrill voice to cut through the air.
"You have the audacity to come back here looking like that?"
Melanie flinched. Her mother's voice was venom wrapped in silk. For a second, she forgot how to speak.
Melanie looked up slowly. Her mother stood near the dining table, arms crossed tightly, her lips curled up in contempt. Her father sat with a newspaper in his hands, ignoring her entirely, like she was some stain on the carpet they'd long stopped trying to clean.
"Where were you yesterday?" her mother snapped. "Do you want to ruin our family completely?"
Melanie's voice cracked. "I... I just wanted answers."
"Answers?" her father finally looked up, his eyes cold. "After everything we gave you? A roof, clothes, a future? And you repay us by disgracing this family at every turn."
"I was lied to," she whispered.
Her mind flashed back to the white petals scattered across the aisle, the look of victory in Rose's eyes, Adrian's hands wrapped around her sister's waist like it had never belonged to Melanie.
Not one shocked face in the crowd... Just smiles, as if they'd already known it would be Rose.
"Oh, spare us the drama." Her mother's heels clicked toward her. "Adrian made his choice. Rose is better suited for him. You were just... temporary. Surely even you knew that."
Melanie felt her chest tighten, like a belt was pulled around her ribs. Temporary. That word clung to her skin like poison. Do they really think of her that way all along? Was her entire life just a placeholder for Rose's convenience? She swallowed the lump in her throat.
It was the first time anyone had said it to her face. Confirmed what she'd witnessed with her own eyes in the venue _ her sister in a white gown, Adrian standing proudly beside her. Everyone she loved... standing on the wrong side.
She had no friends. The moment she got close to anyone, Rose would smile sweetly, offered them something better, and suddenly Melanie was alone again. It had always been like that... birthdays, crushes, even her dreams, and now her man. Everything she wanted, Rose claimed first.
She had always wanted to be a fashion designer but stopped when Rose said she wanted the same. And of course... If Melanie ever wanted something Rose wanted too, she was accused of copying.
"I'm your daughter too," Melanie said softly, unable to stop the quiver in her voice.
"And so what?" her father said flatly.
Her knees nearly gave way.
"But Rose," her mother continued, as if she hadn't just shattered Melanie's heart. "She's going places. She'll make this family proud, as Adrian's wife and as her designer."
"You knew," Melanie stared at them. "You knew about them. You were all in on it." Her mind reeled. How many times had she smiled at their approval, never realizing it was fake? Every forced compliment, every time they said Adrian was "good for the family" _ it all made sense now. They planned this behind her back.
"Of course we knew," her mother hissed.
Her tears dried up at once.
For a moment, she was a child again _ begging to be chosen, to be seen. But now, there was only silence where hope used to be.
"I have nothing left here," she whispered.
Her mother gave a tight smile. "Then go. Run to whatever gutter you crawled out of last night. It's not like we need your shame around the family name anymore."
Melanie nodded slowly. "You won't see me again," she said, her voice firmer this time. Not because she was hurting, but because she refused to let them hurt her anymore.
She turned away before they could see her break again.
But as she reached the door, her father's voice followed her one last time. "Think well before leaving... the moment you walk past that door, you aren't coming back in again.
Melanie stepped outside, letting the door slam shut behind her.
The wind hit her face sharply, drying the tears she didn't want to fall. Her legs moved on instinct, aimless and aching. She didn't know where to go, only that she couldn't stay.
Everything hurt. Her shoulders sagged, and a soft sob escaped her lips before she bit it back. She couldn't fall apart now.
Not just the betrayal. Not just Rose. Not just Adrian.
It was the years of never being enough. Of being compared. Of giving everything only to be told she was still a placeholder. An afterthought.
Where was she going to go from here?
What was she going to do?
She didn't even have anyone by her side... And then, like a whisper in the back of her mind, she remembered Leonard. The stranger from last night. Mysterious. Calm. Unshaken by her past. He hadn't even judged her when she woke up.
Her mind was already made up now.
If the people who gave birth to her and raised her could discard her like trash, maybe it was time she become someone they couldn't throw away. Someone powerful enough to never be humiliated again.
She looked up at the city skylines, the cold wind pushing her hair back.
"Leonard Westwood," she murmured. "Let's make a deal."
If the world wanted her broken, fine. She would rise from the ruins. And she'd do it with the man no one dared to cross.