{Lily}
Joshua tried to balance the tiny saucepan over the stove as rain fell outside.
“It’s burning,” I told him from the floor.
“It’s not that bad, I promiseee.” He said.
When I scoffed, he glanced back with offense.
“You’re insulting my craft.”
“You don’t have craft. You almost poisoned me last week.”
“I said I was sorry.”
“You said, and I quote, ‘your stomach is weak.’”
We both burst out laughing. Thunder rumbled outside our tiny bedroom window, loud enough to shake the glass.
Dad and Selene were downstairs hosting guests again.
Which meant Joshua and I were forgotten again.
Honestly, those were usually our best nights.
We could play to our hearts content!
“I'm coming for you!” I ran to slam him but fell to the floor instead.
“Lily,” Joshua called and I looked up… He stood a few feet away with his hand stretched toward me.
“Get up.”
Before I could grab him, the world dissolved and my eyes snapped open.
Bright white lights were the first thing I saw.
Why was I dreaming about Joshua now? Did I miss my brother that much? Or was life so bad I had to remember the simpler times?
I groaned and tried sitting up.
“Careful!”
A nurse rushed toward me so fast you would think I had pulled out a weapon.
“You shouldn’t move too much.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you are not fine.”
I blinked slowly, trying to focus.
“I’ve had worse mornings,” I muttered.
The nurse adjusted my drip with a tired expression. “Well, you should think about the baby too.”
I frowned.
“The what?”
“The baby.”
I stared at her.
I actually looked behind me like another pregnant woman might be hidden somewhere in the room.
“No.”
The nurse softened slightly. “You’re around six weeks pregnant.”
“Pregnant…”
The word sat strangely in my head.
I expected to panic… Be in shock. Maybe joy?
Instead of all that, I felt empty.
Like my emotions had already exhausted themselves yesterday.
I looked down at my stomach slowly.
It was Raymond’s child.
The nurse smiled awkwardly. “You fainted from the impact and stress. Thankfully the baby is fine.”
I rubbed my face tiredly. “Who brought me here?”
“Your fiancé.”
“Where is he?”
The nurse hesitated. “He left after your treatment was completed.”
“And never came back.”
“You should rest for at least another day,” the nurse advised.
“I can’t.”
“Miss Lily.”
“I really can’t.”
She sighed. “At least avoid stress.”
I nearly laughed in her face.
An hour later, I signed my discharge papers and left the hospital alone.
I got in a cab and headed to where I knew he'd be.
The closer we got to Raymond’s apartment, the heavier my chest became.
I hoped he felt guilty. I hoped he regretted yesterday. And was trying to make an apology.
I stepped out of the taxi and headed inside quietly.
Then I heard laughter… Female laughter…
Familiar female laughter.
I froze outside the kitchen.
Cassandra was still laughing when I walked in.
She sat on the kitchen counter wearing one of Raymond’s shirts like she belonged there.
Raymond stood between her legs while she fed him strawberries from a bowl.
The sight felt like a dream. But wasn't.
Cassandra noticed me first.
“Well,” she said brightly. “The patient lives.”
Raymond turned.
For one second, something flickered across his face.
Then it disappeared completely.
“What is she doing here?” I asked quietly.
Raymond wiped his hands with a towel calmly. “I invited her.”
I looked at Raymond again. “We had wedding shoots today.”
Cassandra burst into laughter so suddenly she nearly slid off the counter.
“Oh my God,” she said. “Nobody told her?”
Raymond turned to face me. “There won’t be a wedding anymore.”
Cassandra stretched out her hand lazily, showing a diamond ring.
“He proposed this morning,” she announced proudly.
My chest tightened so hard it hurt to breathe.
“You’re joking.”
“No,” Raymond replied.
I looked between them repeatedly.
Yesterday he was holding me while I cried in his arms… Yesterday he was still my fiancé.
“Because of yesterday?” I asked finally.
“You’re ending everything because we fought?”
“It’s part of it.”
“Part?”
Raymond exhaled heavily. “Lily, things haven’t been right for a while.”
“I’ve had feelings for Cassandra for years.”
“She understood me better,” he continued. “I didn’t know how to end things with you because... honestly, you were good to me.”
Good to him.
That was what all those years became.
Good to him.
“You used me,” I whispered.
“That’s unfair.”
“Unfair?” I laughed louder this time. “I built your company beside you!”
“And I appreciated it.”
“No, you benefited from it.”
“You don’t need me anymore because Cassandra owns Caddell Group now.”
Neither of them denied it.
That hurt more than the confession itself.
Raymond walked toward Cassandra and wrapped an arm around her waist naturally.
“We make more sense together.”
I suddenly wanted to throw up.
Cassandra smiled smugly. “Meanwhile you have absolutely nothing.”
I said nothing.
Honestly, I could barely feel my legs.
“Nobody wants you,” she continued. “Nobody ever will. You may be the legal daughter, Lily, but I own everything now.”
She looked around the kitchen dramatically.
“Actually, if you become desperate enough, maybe I’ll hire you as my personal assistant.”
“There it is.”
Cassandra frowned. “What?”
“You want me to help run the company for you.”
She laughed loudly. “Please. I can hire ten degree holders by tomorrow morning.”
“You can hire them. Doesn’t mean they can save you.”
“You’ll always be second choice, Cassandra. The illegitimate daughter pretending she won… And Raymond? He’s using you exactly the way he used me. Once he’s done, he’ll dump you too.”
“Get out,” Raymond snapped suddenly.
Before I could reply, Cassandra touched his chest calmly.
“Relax.”
Then she looked back at me with amusement.
“I won’t care if he leaves someday,” she said lightly. “I don’t get attached like you do.”
I clenched my fists.
“And honestly? You made this very easy for me. Altering Father’s will was simpler than I expected.”
Raymond looked at her quickly, but she only shrugged.
“What?” she asked. “She already lost.”
I stared at her.
She admitted it so casually.
Like cheating me out of my life was some funny prank.
Something inside me finally gave out.
I turned and walked away before they could see my eyes burning.
Neither of them followed.
Of course they didn’t.
I left in a hurry to meet the lawyer. And after nearly forty minutes explaining everything, he sighed.
“Miss Lily, unless you can prove manipulation directly, challenging the will successfully will be extremely difficult.”
“She admitted it.”
“Verbally?”
“Yes.”
“But she did so in private.”
I said nothing.
He gave me an apologetic look.
“Then legally, it means very little.”
I laughed bitterly. “Amazing.”
“I’m sorry.”
I stood up slowly, leaving. “Everybody keeps saying that.”
My entire life had collapsed in less than forty eight hours.
I ended up at a park without remembering how I got there.
Children ran across the grass nearby while parents chased after them lazily.
I sat on a bench and stared ahead.
Father was dead..Despite everything, despite all the cruelty, part of me still hurt over it.
Maybe because children never fully stop wanting their parents… Even unwanted children.
My hand slowly rested against my stomach.
I was having a child too.
How was I supposed to raise somebody when I barely knew what proper love looked like? What if I became like my dad? What would I do if the child looked like Raymond?
That thought alone made vomit rise in my throat.
Tears burned my eyes again.
“No,” I whispered to myself.
I couldn’t do this.
I wouldn’t carry Raymond’s child.
The decision settled heavily inside me.
I was going to abort it and start life again, forgetting all of this ever happened.
My phone rang suddenly.
I almost ignored it but I answered anyway.
“Hello?”
The caller didn't respond immediately, but when they did. I heard a familiar male voice speak softly.
“Lily.”
My entire body froze.
That voice.
Impossible.
My grip tightened around the phone.
“…Joshua?”