Revenge Of The Jilted Bride

Jilted Bride 2

Chapter 2 Disappointment

Later that day, Emily approached Ophelia, her smile as bright as ever, and led her toward the pool. They hadn't exchanged many words before it happened-Emily had "accidentally" slipped, reaching out to grab onto Ophelia for dear life.

Despite her swimming skills, Ophelia had found herself at the mercy of Emily's panicked strength. At that moment, the world had turned around Ophelia. Emily had pulled her down into the water, dragging her beneath the surface as if Ophelia were a lifeline. While it was Ophelia who had nearly drowned, it had been Emily who the family had fussed over.

"Mom, Dad, I'm fine. Don't worry so much, okay?" Emily's voice chimed sweetly from the hospital bed, reassuring her family, as if she were the one barely hanging on. "Harry, Nathan, you too. The doctor said it was just a scare, nothing serious." Her words were like honey, but Ophelia could taste the bitterness in the air.

"You silly girl, of course we're worried. How on earth did you end up falling into the pool?" Heather, her mother, hovered over Emily with a steaming bowl of soup. She blew gently on it to make sure that it wasn't too hot for her precious daughter.

Ophelia stood at the door, her chest tight. That small scene, the tenderness in Heather's gestures-it pierced her. She had once dreamed of being cared for like that by her mother.

No matter how hard she tried, no matter how much she begged for scraps of affection, her efforts never amounted to anything. Emily, on the other hand, with just a single tear, could summon the world's sympathy.

It was as if right or wrong didn't matter when it came to Emily. The moment Emily cried, the family just assumed everything was Ophelia's fault and all their protective instincts flocked to Emily, just as they were doing now.

"Emily, did Ophelia push you?" Nathan, Emily's second brother, asked, his voice hard and full of certainty. "We checked the hotel's security cameras. It was just you and her by the pool."

"No, please don't blame Elia." Emily's eyes shimmered with unshed tears as she feigned a look of understanding, her voice trembling just the right amount. "It was my fault. I slipped. Really."

But the more she denied it, the more the Hastings family believed her to be the victim. The way she played the part of the understanding, self-sacrificing sister only fueled their conviction that Ophelia was the villain in this story.

"You're too good for your own good. That's why Ophelia keeps taking advantage of you, Emily," Nathan muttered with a frown, his hands balling into fists, anger radiating off him. "Ophelia's been nothing but trouble since she came back six months ago. She's hurt you more than once, and you still defend her?"

Her voice was soft, filled with guilt. "It's my fault. Elia's

well-placed confession, one that practically sealed Ophelia's fate. It was a subtle

you'll always be our little princess. No one can take that away from you. Don't ever let me hear you talk like that again. As for what anyone else

and though her face was full of worry, there was a flicker of satisfaction in her eyes that vanished just as quickly as it appeared. "But

dismissive, brushing Ophelia's existence aside like it were nothing. The word "outsider" settled in Ophelia's mind, bitter as poison. Her lips curled

had longed for the family she had been deprived of for twenty years, she had never been one

break for them. The pain, the humiliation

had remained quiet until now, let out a heavy sigh. "Don't worry, Emily.

*****

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door, a bespoke marvel, could easily fetch a staggering sum, worth tens of thousands of dollars. Ophelia walked from the

of the living room sat the Hastings family, looking every bit as elite as the home they occupied. Nathan, lounging on the sofa, was the first to notice her. He looked at her with a mixture of boredom and annoyance, crossing his legs with an air of superiority. "You're finally back. Took you long enough. Why are you so

an edge of defiance. For a second, they sharpened

to this family, it seemed Nathan had taken on the role

she thought, I'd probably have apologized immediately when he scolded me. Bowed my head, swallowed my

twenty years, she'd lived in a slum, never once allowing herself to be walked over. Yet, after returning to this family, she had bent over backward to strip away every piece of herself just to fit in. Ironically, in

hospital, I was still inside, dealing with my discharge papers. It's not easy to catch a cab outside that place and it took me

who broke it, her face reddening with anger. "Are you blaming us now, Elia? Since the day you returned, tell me, when

care of. Just because I couldn't

I

respond, Nathan was already on his feet, his finger pointing straight at Ophelia's face. "You should be grateful. We took you out of the gutter, didn't we? That little maid's room is a palace compared to the shanty