Cecilia’s POV

“That’s my daughter,” Father said proudly, his eyes on Eva before he cast me a dismissive glance. “Apologize to Eva and your mother, Cece. You’ve upset them again.”

Eva’s expression changed the moment no one else was looking. The warmth vanished. Her eyes gleamed with quiet mockery, as if daring me to expose her right there at the table.

Growing up, Eva’s favorite game had been comparison. My quiet nature against her bright charm. My reserved manners against her effortless social grace.

Everyone adored her, even Papa, Mama and my own brother.

I had been hurt by it for as long as I could remember.

But now… surprisingly, I didn’t feel hurt.

In fact, I didn’t feel anything at all.

So I smiled. “I’m sorry. It was my fault. It won’t happen again.”

The room fell silent.

Every pair of eyes turned to me, stunned. My apology had clearly shaken them. Even Father’s anger cracked for a second—but only for a second. He covered it with an awkward laugh.

“That’s right,” he said, clearing his throat. “We’re family. If you admit your mistake, no one will hold it against you. We’re family, after all…”

Family… what a family I had…

“If you’ll excuse me,” I said evenly, “I’d like to go upstairs and rest.”

There was nothing left for Father to criticize. I had apologized. Eva and Mother, always aligned with him, said nothing more.

I turned toward the stairs.

Before I could step onto the first stair, a hand caught my wrist.

“Cece.” Adam’s voice, “You’re not still upset that I hung up on you the other day… are you?”

He had been the only one who answered my call, also the one who told me not to bother them and ruin my family’s important night.

I turned and looked at him calmly. “What? If I were upset, would you go back in time and not hang up?”

His expression tightened. “That’s not what I meant. I was worried about you. You disappeared after that call. And now you’re saying you had surgery…”

He reached for my hand again. I stepped back and shook him off.

“I’m tired. I need to rest.”

I won’t pretend his sudden concern didn’t stir something old inside me—sadness, maybe even a flicker of anger.

But my heart had just survived surgery. It couldn’t afford those feelings anymore.

“But—” Adam tried again.

He wouldn’t let this go unless I gave him something.

“No,” I said quietly. “I’m not upset.”

Relief crossed Adam’s face so fast it almost hurt to see.

“Good,” he exhaled. “That’s good. Since you’re not upset… I know we planned to get our marriage license this Thursday. It would’ve marked our one-thousandth day together. But at Eva’s debut, she invited everyone on a family trip to Italy. She wants to visit your father’s weapons factory before she officially joins the business…”

He paused, watching me carefully.

That’s right… Adam and I had chosen this Thursday to register our marriage. One thousand days together—a date that felt symbolic, almost sacred. If we missed it, there wouldn’t be another one quite like it.

Yet until he mentioned it, I had forgotten.

For the past few days, all I had thought about was whether I would survive the surgery, whether my heart would keep beating.

Marriage had seemed… distant.

Looking at Adam now—at the way he chose each word so carefully—I could tell he’d expected a scene. A protest. Anger. Maybe even tears.

So when I didn’t respond, he rushed to fill the silence.

“It’ll only be a short trip,” he said quickly. “About a week. Then we can register the following Thursday instead.”

His urgency to fulfill Eva’s wish made every memory we shared feel faint, almost laughable.

But I was too numb to even feel properly betrayed.

If I could lie on an operating table alone, then postponing a marriage license for Eva’s convenience was nothing.

“Alright,” I said.

Adam blinked. “For real? You’re not joking?”

I shook my head. “I’ll call and cancel it today.”

He reached for my hand. “No—don’t cancel it. Just call the city council office and delay it.”

I gently pulled my hand free and continued toward the stairs.

Cancel or delay. What difference would it make?

Eva would always find another reason, another trip, another event, another excuse to push it back further.

She might not openly take Adam from me. But she would make sure I never truly had him.

Growing up, everything I loved had slowly shifted into her hands.

Papa and Mama’s affection. Sebastian’s admiration. Friends. Professors.

And now Adam.

The way Adam had looked at her tonight—like they shared something private—made it painfully clear.

Even him… was beginning to choose her.

I forced myself to stay calm. Dr. May had been very clear: no strong emotional swings, no stress or agitation.

But I could already feel it—my heartbeat quickening, pounding too fast against my ribs.

Had I overestimated myself?

Had I secretly hoped for something more, even after my family—and my fiancé—had shown me exactly how little I meant?

I remembered the small bottle of pills Dr. May had slipped into my hand before discharge. Take one if things feel overwhelming, she had said.

My bag was already upstairs in my room.

I just needed to get there.

I turned and began climbing the stairs.

“Cece,” Eva’s voice drifted up behind me, soft and almost sweet. “Did Adam tell you we’re all flying to Italy this Thursday to visit Papa’s factory?”

I didn’t answer.

My heart was racing now, fast and uneven. All I could think about was reaching my room, taking a pill and breathing.

I had nearly died once already. I would not let myself collapse again. Not like this. Not in front of them.

Just as I reached the last few steps, a pair of shoes blocked my way.

I looked up.

Sebastian.

He shoved my shoulders. I stumbled and grabbed the railing to steady myself, but he caught my arms and yanked me around to face the living room.

“Didn’t you hear Eva?” he snapped. “Why are you ignoring her?”

His grip was iron-tight.

Normally, I might have struggled harder. But my body wasn’t what it used to be. My legs felt weak, my head light. Nausea rose sharply in my throat, and my breath shortened into shallow pulls.

This is bad. These were the same warning signs I’d felt in the hospital before everything spiraled.

But my silence seems only irritated Sebastian further. He dragged me down the stairs and forced me to stand in front of Eva and Adam.

“Let me go,” I managed, my voice thin as I fought the urge to vomit—or faint.

He didn’t release me.

Neither Eva nor Adam moved to stop him.

“Apologize,” Sebastian sneered. “Or I’ll tell Papa you’re picking on Eva again.”

Sebastian’s fingers tightened around my arms. “Then you can wait and see how long Papa locks you in the basement this time.”

Cecilia’s POV

Adam stepped in, his tone sharp. “You told me you weren’t upset. So why are you lashing out at Eva again? Postponing the registration was my decision, not hers. If you’re going to blame someone, blame me.”

The dizziness surged again. My vision blurred at the edges, my breathing turned shallow and uneven.

“Let me go,” I tried to pull away, but Sebastian only shoved me harder.

I fell onto the carpet. The impact jarred my knees, but the pain there was nothing compared to the tight, crushing ache in my chest.

“What’s going on here?” Papa’s voice cut through the room.

Sebastian didn’t hesitate. “She’s picking on Eva again, Father. She may pretend to be sweet in front of you, but I saw how she treated Eva just now. She hasn’t changed at all.”

I tried to sit up, but my arms trembled beneath me. Still, I lifted my head just in time to see Father’s gaze land on me.

“No wonder you apologized earlier,” he said coldly. “You just wanted your mother and me to stop watching so you could bully Eva again?”

I was on the floor, struggling to breathe. And Eva stood there, untouched.

How was I the one hurting her?

“I didn’t…” I managed.

“She did,” Sebastian cut in immediately. “I saw it. Adam was here. He heard it too, didn’t you?”

Adam’s voice came, calm and distant. “She ignored Eva just now.”

That was enough.

Father’s expression hardened. “Guards.”

“Yes, Don.” Two men stepped out from the hallway.

“Take Cecilia Thornwood and lock her in the basement,” Father ordered. “She is not to come out until I say so.”

I looked up at Father. The light cast shadows across his face, and for a fleeting second, I saw him as he once was—years ago—when he would lift me into his arms and laugh.

Cece, my most cherished prize.

The memory felt like it belonged to someone else’s life.

The guards hauled me to my feet. My legs barely held. They dragged me across the floor.

“Please… let me go back to my room first,” I whispered.

Father’s voice drifted behind me, emotionless. “Since she enjoys making others feel helpless, she can have a taste of it herself.”

Mother sighed softly. “How did I raise a daughter like this…”

Eva’s voice trembled—perfectly measured. “It’s all my fault. If it weren’t for me, Cece wouldn’t be like this…”

And almost at once, Adam and Sebastian answered together, “It’s not your fault.”

…

Click.

The basement door shut. The lock slid into place.

I rushed forward and pounded on it. “Open the door! Please—let me out!”

The pain had started spreading down my left leg. My chest felt crushed, like something enormous was pressing down on it.

“Please,” I gasped. “Tell Papa I’ll apologize. I just need to go out. I need to—”

My palm stung from hitting the metal. I kept banging until it went numb.

No one answered.

“Papa… please. I need my medication. I need to take the pill, or I will—”

“Miss Thornwood,” one of the guards finally said from outside, sounding almost bored. “Save your strength. Don and the family have already left the mansion. He said you are to remain here until he returns.”

Left.

They had left.

Darkness flickered at the edges of my vision.

How had everything turned like this so quickly?

Even if I had ignored Eva, hadn’t I told them I’d just had surgery? How could my own family show so little care? Not even the smallest decency?

They remembered Eva’s debut, her future, her every wish.

But they forgot me.

My phone suddenly vibrated in my back pocket. In the chaos, I had forgotten it was there.

With trembling fingers, I pulled it out.

I called Father. Voicemail.

Mother. Voicemail.

Sebastian. Voicemail.

Adam. Voicemail.

In the desperation, I remembered that Dr. May had given me her number before I left the hospital. She was too perceptive not to notice—no one had signed my waiver, and no one had come to pick me up. She must have sensed that I didn’t have anyone I could rely on. So she gave me her private number.

But before I could dial it, a message popped up on my screen.

From Adam, “Since you’re so upset about the Italy trip, maybe you should sit this one out. I still plan to go. Your father said he’ll introduce me to some important contacts. You can stay home and wait for me.”

I stared at Adam’s message for a second, then I laughed. It wasn’t loud, just bitter.

After that, I pressed call on Dr. May’s number.

She answered on the second ring.

When she heard my breathing, she didn’t waste time on unnecessary questions—she just asked for my location.

She said she would be here in ten minutes. Until then, I had to stay conscious, stay awake.

I slid down the wall and sat on the cold basement floor. The only sound around me was my own heartbeat—fast, uneven, too loud in the silence.

I had to stay awake, I told myself. So I forced my mind to drift back to my past life.

My earliest memories were of Papa praising me as his most beloved daughter—of believing I was precious.

Then came the day he brought Eva home, telling us we had to protect her, love her like our own.

After that, the scoldings began—how I wasn’t warm enough, kind enough, generous enough toward her.

Then I grew up a little bit. Eva transferred to my school. She was always surrounded by friends, laughter orbiting her wherever she went.

Back then, I had only one close friend. Somehow, Eva took that too.

After I graduated and began helping with the family casino business, I met Adam. We fell in love quickly—so quickly it almost felt unreal. I thought that maybe, finally, someone was truly mine.

But Eva started to show up, never openly hostile or obvious.

“Can I join you and Adam for dinner?” she would ask sweetly. And then she would sit between us like she belonged there.

“Can I borrow Adam for a party tonight? You know I don’t have a date.”

Little by little, she blurred the lines until I couldn’t tell what was mine anymore.

My eyelids felt heavy. I didn’t want to close them. But I was so tired.

The pain in my chest throbbed, spreading, pressing down harder.

Just before I let the darkness swallow me whole, the basement door burst open.

Voices and footsteps.

“Cecilia!” Dr. May’s voice cut through the haze.

She and several nurses rushed toward me.

I tried to say something, but no sound came out.

Slowly, I closed my eyes.