Chapter Four

I'm grateful for the numbness that envelops me as I step into the mansion I’d regarded as home since childhood—a place I had believed was a sanctuary of love and family. However, now, with the veil of illusion lifted, I see it for what it truly is: a den of betrayal. But despite everything, I refuse to believe my husband, Daniel, is involved in their treachery, which is what I'm here to confirm. 

Yemaya informed me that he'd been staying at the Winthrop mansion while I was hospitalized, and though she strongly opposed my decision to visit, she'd driven me here and was waiting outside, ready to barge in if I wasn't not out within ten minutes. Her unwavering support reassures me as I walk silently down the familiar corridor lined with obnoxiously expensive artworks. Nearing the end of the hall, I begin hearing voices emanating from what I recall as the drawing room—a room that's never fulfilled its purpose.

I don't know what to expect as I approach the ajar doorway but the sight of my husband sitting half naked on the sofa with my disheveled foster sister straddling him, their bodies locked in a passionate embrace, is definitely not it. Stella's laughter rings out, airy and triumphant as her manicured fingers trace lazy circles on Daniel's skin while he caresses her exposed stomach with a tenderness he's never shown me. 

“Finally that bitch is out of our lives,” Stella starts, “and soon we won't have to sneak around like this anymore. You'll be all mine, my love. I couldn't be happier.”

“Me too, baby. You have no idea how relieved I am that I won't have to put up with that moping and boring as fuck woman any longer.” Daniel groans.

Stella snickers, “She really thought she could waltz into your life with her lard-ass self and keep a man like my Danny satisfied. Poor, clueless Selena.”

“Well, at least, it was good while it lasted,” Daniel chuckles but his words must have displeased Stella because she frowns, to which he quickly explains. “No need to get jealous, beautiful. All Selena was useful for was proposing decent business ideas for our companies. Her business acumen was helpful while it lasted. Why else would my family arrange my marriage with a poor orphan and not you, the real daughter?”

Stella rolls her eyes. “Her alleged business acumen was jeopardizing my brother's spot as future CEO since Dad was considering replacing him with her. That's why Tyler agreed to pose as her secret lover after we'd drugged her.”

Her admission makes bile rise up my throat as my body quivers. What? My foster brother had seen me naked? I think back to the devious smirk he'd given me that night and the way he'd always stare at me over the years, making my skin crawl due to the look in his eyes.

He'd seen me naked. He'd also touched me. And my husband stood by and watched. Even drugged me. 

“Plus, what's the use of her fucking business skills when she couldn't even give you an heir after all these years?”

“About that. I’ve been meaning to ask. . .” Daniel says. “Was she really lying about being pregnant for me?”

Daniel's question stuns me because I had assumed they were both behind all that happened but now as Stella's eyes widen slightly, it's clear that killing my baby—and nearly me—was all her doing. She was the only one besides Yemaya who knew about my pregnancy and my plan to surprise Daniel. But she'd outmaneuvered me, manipulating everyone, even my husband apparently, before I could share the news. 

Anger and hatred bubble so violently inside of me that I imagine attacking Stella as she scoffs, unable to meet my husband's eyes when she answers, “Of course, she was. Suddenly conceiving after years of failure? Please. The bitch was obviously trying to trap you.”

I take a subconscious step into the room, ready to scream the truth but Stella's next words make me freeze. “Besides, if she was really pregnant for you, what would you have done, huh? Abandoned me and our baby for her?”

Without allowing me to recover from the shock of hearing Stella's pregnant for Daniel, my husband's swift reply drives the knife deeper into my already bleeding heart. “Of course not. You're carrying my heir. Whatever bastard she'd be carrying would be the second. Insignificant just like their mother.”

I stagger against the doorway as a sudden wave of dizziness hits me, my last shred of hope in Daniel trickling out of me with every tear that leaks from my eyes. Whether or not he knew about the death of our baby, he'd still connived with Stella against me, drugged me and let another man violate me. 

The weight of it all is unbearable and I'm ready to flee when a voice startles me from behind. “Looks like little Selena is back from her lover's bed.” My stomach drops when I realize it's Tyler. Forgetting the danger of being caught spying, my immediate concern is avoiding him. My foster brother strides toward me, smirking, and I quickly back away, my skin crawling in discomfort. “How long have you been standing there and eavesdropping, baby sis?” He taunts. 

Melinda storms in afterward, fury etched on her face. “Didn’t learn your lesson the last time, huh? Back for more, you whore?!” She yells, restrained by my foster father's, Chester Winthrop, firm grip on her arm. Stella's jeering snicker echoes behind me, reminding me that I'm trapped in a room full of backstabbers. Panic rises within me but Father's calm, ivy voice cuts through. 

“Selena, why are you here?”

“Father, I—”

He silences me with a scathing glare. “You lost the right to call me that the moment you betrayed my trust.” I can clearly feel the satisfaction emanating from everyone else at Father's words. “You are no longer considered part of this family.”

“Father, I didn't do any of what I was accused—”

“All that was promised to you in my will shall be revoked and you are to leave here, never to return, and never to bear the Winthrop name anymore.”

Desperation fills my voice. “Please, Father, believe me. They planned it all. Just look at those two!” I gesture at Daniel and Stella, who are wrapped up in each other's embrace, exposed bodies touching. “They planned everything to get rid of me! Stella is—”

“And we wouldn't have resorted to such measures if you'd just continued to be useful to us!” Father yells, cutting me off. “You were married to Daniel for three years without conceiving, Selena. The Berfields were getting impatient, so someone else had to step in to do the job you couldn't.”

A violent shudder rakes through me as it registers that they've all planned this. Even Father. I'd been nothing but an insignificant piece in their game of chess. 

The man I'd considered my father morphs into a complete stranger as he orders coldly, “You won't speak a word of this to anybody, Selena, and you'll leave quietly, never to appear before us ever again. Failure to adhere will attract severe consequences, child. Don't cross me.”

And with that, he leaves the room, taking Melinda with him. My body is once again numb and I feel lightheaded as I face the remaining people in the room, earning triumphant smirks from Tyler and Stella, who clings to a stoic Daniel. I stare at them all until a dry, humorless laugh escapes my mouth, my stomach clenching from the force of it. I laugh until I double over—stomach hurting and breath catching. I laugh until the tears on my cheeks run dry.

Then abruptly, I straighten back up, meeting their wary gazes. To them, I must appear as though I've lost my sanity but what they don't realize is that they've just created a monster. 

“Do you three know what you just witnessed?” I ask, my voice raspy and devoid of emotions. “The death of Selena Winthrop. Her blood now lies on your filthy hands and you're all going to pay for it. Dearly.” I grin, giving them one last look as I turn around to leave. “If you think you've seen the last of me, think again.”