Chapter 6: Betrayal

Monica jolted when she heard the harsh slamming of the door. The entrance door was partly opened, and her parents seemed to be having an argument inside.

"How would the rest of the world view me when they know that my two daughters are interested in the same man?" Her father, Leonard Banks, said in a frustrated voice.

Daughters? Monica was dazed for a second. Her parents knew about Brie messing around with her husband already.

She furrowed her brows in confusion and slightly leaned against the door as she listened to her parents' conversation.

"Leonard. Now isn't the time to be proud. Monica has been married to Liam McKenzie for years and yet doesn't bring anything home but look at Brie, just a fling and contracts are coming in to the company."

"But that doesn't change the fact that Monica is still our daughter," Leonard argued.

"Your daughter." Her mother corrected and Monica stiffened. She couldn't make sense of her mother's reply.

"I thought you promised that you would never speak of that again." Her father roared out in anger. She wanted to go in and confront them, but she was quite sure that they were going to deny.

She could hear her mother's swallow breathing, "But that doesn't change the fact that she's just your daughter and not mine. I'm just the stepmom."

All the air seems to be kicked out of Monica's lungs. Stepmom? It didn't make sense.

"You know she earned that position a long time ago, Brenda. She gave you everything. Her whole wealth and you squandered everything."

Monica choked. The boxes fell from her hands and landed on the floor, "Everything?''She murmured.

The noise had caught her parents' attention and they paused their conversation. Her father quickly darted outside and faced his daughter.

"Monica!"He gasped. He didn't know she was back and, judging from her ghostly complexion, she must have heard more than enough.

Tears glistened and fell through her lashes as she looked at her father. She couldn't understand anything anymore. She had always been the dutiful daughter, always doing as she was told. Give your clothes to Brie and she obeyed. Brie likes your toys and she gave them. Now Brie wanted her husband and took him.

"How much did you hear??" Her father questioned.

She was momentarily confused. Which part should she ask first? Brenda wasn't her mother or her parents knew about her husband's affair or her whole wealth was gone.

"Who is my mother?" Monica quietly murmured. All her life, she had loved and adorned Brenda even though she had always been partial between Brie and her. She never complained.

Brenda came to the door and her lips formed an O shape.

"Monica!. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at your husband's house?"

Monica controlled her emotions and wiped her tears, "Did you know Brie was having an affair with my husband?"

Her mother's face contorted. Monica laughed bitterly, "Yeah! The contracts. You must have known."

"I'm sorry, Monica, but my daughter's happiness comes first."

"But I'm your daughter too!"

"No! You are not."

"Brenda!" Her father caught in just as Brenda shouted.

Monica's eyes widened, and she turned to her father, "What does she mean? Who is my mother?"

"Monica, calm down!"

"Don't tell me to calm down, Dad." Monica couldn't believe her ears, ''Who is my mother?"

''Monica..."

"Just tell her the truth, Leonard. Your mother was a slut."

Monica gasped, "My mother cannot be a slut."

"Of course she is. She seduced my husband and got pregnant for him."

"Brenda!"

Despite Leonard's pleading, Brenda didn't stop."I was willing to let it go and accept you as my despite until you turned 12 and wanted to be a model just like your mother."

"My real mother is a model." Monica shivered at the revelation.

"Was! She died after giving birth to you."

Monica gripped her hair with a pained expression on her face.

"You lied to me my whole life, and now how am I supposed to deal with this? Who is my mother?" She yelled with tears streaming down her eyes. Monica had believed that her husband was cheating on her with her sister was painful, but finding out that the woman she had known all her life wasn't actually her mother and, worse still, her real mother was dead.

"Brenda, calm down." Her father tried to touch her, but she slapped his hands away.

"Are you even my father?"

Leonard winced. Guilt flashing across his face, "Of course, I'm your father."

"Who was my mother?" She asked quietly this time.

"Indiana Hills Norbert."He told her.

Monica stumbled back. Indiana Norbert, the fashion icon that once aired in a movie. It couldn't be her. Every model knew Indiana, she had the walk of life.

"You are joking." She shuddered.

"C'mon, the similarities. Same blonde hair and glossy brown teary eyes. You look nothing like me." Brenda hissed.

Monica couldn't believe her ears. "What about everything I gave you to keep for me? I want them back."

"Everything is gone." Brenda made to hold her hands, but she slapped them away.

"What do you mean by everything? I gave you my life's savings. You took my jewelry and the lake property that I bought." Her voice broke shakily, she was scared of the answer that she might find.

Her father stepped forward, and she recoiled, "You can't do this to me. I worked hard for everything, please."

Tears welled up in Monica's eyes as she tried to keep her voice steady. "For years, I have been a dutiful daughter. I took the leftovers discarded by Brie, and now she has taken my husband, and you have taken my property.'' She paused, sniffled and wiped the tears that couldn't stop flowing, "Just give me the deeds of the Lake house, you can keep the money." She begged. The Lake house was really important to her. It was the first property she bought with her money.

"I sold it, Monica. Your dad's company was about to go bankrupt. We needed money to keep it afloat."

Monica laughed bitterly. She would have been the top model by now if she had pursued her dreams like the agency wanted. She was love-stricken and ended her blossoming career by marrying Liam, who did not want her in the pages of magazines. She had thought he was jealous, how stupid she was.

"No, you have to give it back."

"Monica…" Her father reached out with pleading eyes.

Brenda grabbed his hand, "You are teaching her to be ungrateful. Consider it payment for all the years that I have taken care of you."

Monica scoffed, "Take care of me? I literally went to a public school while Brie went to a public school, and you claimed to spend a lot on me. I went to college on a scholarship."

"You ungrateful child, leave." Brenda pushed her away.

"Brenda, she's my daughter," Leonard tried to persuade his wife.

"Let her learn manners and, besides, Brie is going to marry Liam, you shouldn't be too hung up on her."

Monica held her boxes as tears fell from her eyes. She was devastated and hopeless. How did things turned out this.

"Go and never return."Brenda shouted.

Tears streamed down her eyes as her heart ache. How did things turned out like this.