Chapter 2: The Blow
1339 Words
Cynthia's POV
My hands would not stop shaking.
I stood in the middle of my room, feeling the air around me grow tight and hot, like it was squeezing my lungs shut.
Victoria left only minutes ago, heels clicking sharply against the hallway floor like tiny hammers announcing my doom.
She was going to tell my father.
She was going to tell everyone.
And Dominic… I didn’t even want to imagine what she would tell him.
I pressed both palms against my face, trying to breathe through the panic. “This can’t be happening. It can’t.”
But it was.
And there was nothing I could do to stop it.
My phone buzzed on my bed. I rushed to grab it, praying it was Dominic finally answering.
It wasn’t him.
It was Natasha.
A single message.
A single sentence that turned my stomach cold.
“Hope you’re ready for the truth to come out.”
I stared at the words until they blurred.
*She planned this. She wanted this.*
The test strip wasn’t an accident. She put it in my bathroom. She wanted me to look guilty. She wanted Dominic to believe I was pregnant by someone else.
I knew it, I could feel it.
My knees weakened. I sat on the edge of my bed and gripped the sheets.
*Why? Why did she hate me so much? Why did she always need to hurt me?*
A soft knock came from the door.
No... not a knock.
A command.
“Cynthia.”
My father’s voice.
My stomach dropped. I stood quickly, wiping my face with trembling fingers. The door opened before I could prepare myself.
He stepped in, tall, stiff, wearing the same cold expression he always saved for me. Victoria stood behind him, arms crossed, satisfaction written all over her perfect face.
Natasha lingered near the doorway, pretending to look confused, but her smirk betrayed her.
My father held the test strip in his hand.
I felt the ground tilt.
“Do you care to explain this?” he asked, his voice low and accusing.
My mouth opened, but nothing came out at first. Then the words poured too fast. “Dad, it’s not mine. I didn’t take that test. I’ve never bought one. I didn’t... I didn’t even know it was there.”
Victoria scoffed lightly. “She’s lying, Richard. She was trying to hide it when I walked in.”
“I wasn’t hiding anything!” I stepped forward, heart pounding. “I found it there. Someone put it in my bathroom. I swear I didn’t...”
“Enough.”
My father’s voice cracked like a whip.
I flinched. My chest tightened painfully.
“You think lying helps you? After everything we do for you?” he snapped.
A hot tear escaped, sliding down my cheek. “I’m telling the truth.”
Victoria stepped closer, face full of fake concern. “Richard, perhaps she’s frightened. These mistakes happen when girls are careless and desperate for attention.”
My breath caught. “I’m not desperate! I didn’t do anything!”
Natasha suddenly gasped. “Oh no… Does Dominic know?”
Her acting was horrible, but my father didn’t notice.
At the mention of Dominic, another wave of panic crushed me.
He couldn’t believe this.
He couldn’t.
My father’s jaw tightened. “Cynthia, if you have disgraced this family...”
“I haven’t!” I almost screamed. “Dad, please! Someone set me up!”
His eyes narrowed in disappointment. He didn’t believe me. He never believed me. My mother used to say he loved me, but after she died, all that love vanished with her.
Through my blur of tears, I saw Victoria whisper something in his ear. Something that made his face harden even more.
“Until we figure out who the father is,” he said coldly, “you are not to leave this house.”
I felt like he had slapped me. “Dad, no. You can’t do this. I’m telling you...”
“I said enough!”
My throat crushed in on itself.
Natasha looked at me with triumphant eyes.
She wanted me hurt.
She wanted me alone.
She wanted me ruined.
Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed down the hallway.
“Cynthia?”
My breath stopped.
Dominic.
My father looked toward the door just as Dominic stepped into view. Tall, handsome, dressed in black, his dark hair slightly messy like he rushed to get here. His eyes locked on mine immediately.
Relief flooded me so hard my knees almost buckled. “Dominic…”
He walked toward me fast but slowed when he saw my father, then the tension in the room, then my swollen eyes.
“What’s going on?” he asked, voice tight with worry. “I called you all morning. You didn’t answer.”
I opened my mouth, but Victoria stepped forward first.
“Dominic,” she said sweetly, “I’m afraid you came at a difficult moment.”
He frowned. “What moment?”
My heart began to race. “Dominic, please...”
Victoria held up the test strip like a trophy. “We just discovered that Cynthia is pregnant.”
Silence crashed into the room.
My entire body froze.
Dominic’s eyes widened.
His breath stopped.
“No,” I whispered. “Dominic, please... that’s not mine. I swear.”
Victoria sighed dramatically. “She’s been hiding it. I found her with the strip in the bathroom.”
“It’s not mine!” I cried. “Natasha put it there. I didn’t...”
“Natasha?” he repeated, confused. “Why would she...”
But Natasha quickly burst into tears like she was auditioning for a movie. “I would never do that to her! Dominic, I love her. She’s my sister.”
My jaw tightened. “She’s lying. She did this.”
Dominic’s eyes flicked between us, troubled and unsure. His face darkened with something more painful than anger... confusion.
“Cynthia…” His voice was faint. “If you’re pregnant, why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m not!” Tears streamed down my face. “Dominic, look at me. I would never hide something like that from you. Please believe me.”
I reached for his hand.
He stepped back.
That hurt worse than a slap.
The look he gave me...betrayal mixed with shock...made my heart twist painfully.
“You didn’t answer my calls,” he said softly. “And now I walk into this?”
His voice cracked on the last word.
Tears pricked my eyes. “I didn’t answer because I left my phone on silent. I swear. Dominic, I’m telling the truth. Why don’t you believe me?”
He raked a hand through his hair, pacing a small circle. “Because none of this makes sense. Why would they lie? Why would there be a positive test in your bathroom?”
“Because they want to break us,” I whispered. “Because they don’t want us together.”
He stopped pacing.
His eyes met mine.
For a moment, I saw the boy who held my face and told me he loved me.
But the moment vanished too quickly.
“I need to think,” he said, voice tight. “I can’t do this right now.”
Pain shot through my chest. “Dominic, no... please don’t leave. Don’t walk away from me.”
But he was already pulling back, already heading for the door, already shutting me out.
“Dominic!” I cried, running after him.
He stopped only once, turned slightly, and whispered,
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
Those words shattered me.
Then he walked out.
The door slammed behind him.
And with that single sound, the world I knew collapsed.
I fell to my knees, sobs ripping through me.
Victoria watched with quiet satisfaction.
Natasha wiped fake tears.
My father walked away without a word.
I was alone.
Utterly, painfully alone.
And the girl who wasn’t pregnant was now accused of carrying a child that never existed.
- Writer
