Traded To The Billionaire Heir

Chapter 5: Everything Went According To Plan

The door opened, my heart stopped for a second.

Vanessa was standing there, phone against her ear, she didn't expect to see me. I saw it, just for a moment before her face closed up again and that sly smile came back.

"Well, well," she said. "Look who's here."

My hands curled into fists, I could feel my own heartbeat in my throat.

How long were you standing there? she asked.

Long enough, I said.

Long enough for what?

Long enough to hear you talking to my sister.

Her smile dropped just for a second. Then it came back, bigger than before, and colder too.

What exactly did you hear?

I made myself step closer, even though my legs felt like water.

I heard you say everything went according to plan.

That smile grew until it looked almost cruel. Then a voice came through the phone, small and far away but I knew it anywhere.

"Put me on speaker."

Sophie, my own sister.

Vanessa didn't look away from me, she pressed a button, slowly, like she was enjoying this. Like she'd been waiting for it.

"Hello, Claire."

Hearing her voice broke something in my chest.

"Sophie."

She laughed, soft and easy like we were just two sisters catching up, like she hadn't just helped ruin my whole life.

What do you want? Sophia said.

What do I want? My own voice shook. "I want to know what's going on."

Nobody answered me, and in that silence something old woke up inside me. Years of being the one nobody noticed, years of being pushed to the back, years of smiling and pretending I was fine when I wasn't.

What plan? I said again. "What were you two talking about?"

Sophie laughed again, you really don't know?

My stomach folded in on itself. "Know what?"

Silence, then she spoke and every word felt picked out on purpose, like stones she'd been carrying around for a long time.

"You're Mrs. Ryan Foster now."

I went still.

The vows are done, the papers are signed. A pause. "Everything happened exactly the way it was supposed to."

The hallway felt smaller all of a sudden, too warm, too tight around my chest.

What are you talking about? My voice cracked on the last word.

Vanessa crossed her arms and watched me like I was the show.

Then Sophie's voice got soft. Soft in a way that scared me more than her anger ever could.

"Claire. Have you ever wondered why Mom hates you so much?"

That question hit me like a slap I didn't see coming.

What?

Have you ever wondered why she always chose me? Why did she always protect me? Why was she ready to give you up without even blinking?

All at once the memories came rushing back: birthdays with no one there, the scolding, the names she called me, the thousand small ways I learned I wasn't wanted.

No, I whispered. Just that one word “No."

What did you do? I said, my hands shaking now.

Silence again. Then the question that mattered more than anything else in the world to me right then.

What about Dad?

Nothing on the line, my heart was slamming against my ribs.

What about Dad? I was shouting now, It bounced off the walls.

Nothing, Sophie said.

I let out a breath.

"Yet."

That one word hit me like cold water down my back.

What does that mean? I asked, and I could hear how small my voice had become.

Your beloved father is still in the hospital, she said. He can't stand, he can't walk, and right now he's all alone.

"No." It slipped out of me before I could stop it. He wasn't alone, someone had to be with him, someone was taking care of him. Right?

Mom hasn't gone to see him in days, Sophie said.

My knees buckled.

“Neither have I.”

My hand flew up to cover my mouth, the floor felt like it was tilting under me.

Who knows if he's eating? Who knows if he's taking his medicine?

The tears came then, hot and fast.

Stop, I begged.

"Who knows," she said, "if he's even still alive."

"STOP!"

The scream tore out of me and echoed through that huge, empty house. My chest hurt, my whole head was pounding, everything hurt.

I pictured him lying there, alone, helpless. The one person who ever made me feel like I mattered, and I couldn't breathe.

What if he needed me right now?

What if I never got to see him again?

Please I said, my voice breaking apart. "Please just tell me he's okay."

For a second — only a second — Sophie went quiet. Then she sighed, long and slow.

You still don't understand, do you?

Understand what?

Another silence, longer this time the kind of silence that makes your skin crawl.

Then she spoke again, slow, careful, like she'd been holding these words for years, waiting for the right moment to use them.

If you really want the truth… if you want to know why Mom hates you… why she was so quick to marry you off…

I couldn't breathe.

Then stop asking Vanessa.

The hallway went dead silent, my fingers were shaking so hard I could barely hold the phone.

"Ask Dad."

Cold ran straight down my spine.

"What?"

Her voice dropped to almost nothing but I heard every word.

Ask him why Mom spent twenty-four years pretending to be your mother.

My heart just... stopped.

The phone slid out of my hand.

I heard it hit the marble floor and break into pieces.

Just like everything else I thought I knew about my own life.