Hhh
1446 Words
Vivian at the Dary Empire Mansion
The rain had been falling since they finished with the funeral . Not a wild storm, just a relentless, melancholic drizzle that soaked everything it touched. The sky was dim, heavy, bruised by clouds. The night air smelled like wet earth and the distant scent of burning firewood from a neighbor’s compound.
Vivian stood at the towering entrance of the Dary Empire mansion.
The mansion that once symbolized comfort, pride, and belonging.
Tonight… it felt like a fortress.
She could hear faint echoes of her childhood here. Memories of running barefoot down the polished hallway, her laughter bouncing off marble walls. Her father chasing her with a throw pillow. Her mother pretending to be angry. Her grandmother watching fondly.
Vivian remembered joy.
But right now… her body felt too heavy to move.
Her hand clutched the strap of her soaked bag. Her knuckles were white. The cold raindrops hit her skin, slipping down her face and mixing with tears she didn’t even realize had formed.
You have to go in…
But her feet refused to obey.
Once upon a time, she never hesitated. She’d swing the door open with zero manners and yell into the mansion…
“Mom, Dad, I’m home!”
But tonight… she felt like an intruder.
Years of rebellion.
Months of silence.
Disobedience that cut deeper than words could express.
And then the final wound…
Her father’s death.
She regretted everything.
Every moment she walked away.
Every time she rejected her father’s rules just to prove she could choose her own life.
Vivian closed her eyes.
She whispered to herself, barely audible…
“I can’t watch Mom suffer alone… I can’t…”
With trembling fingers, she reached for the heavy bronze handle. It felt cold… painfully cold. Almost like the metal itself resented her touch.
She pushed.
The door creaked open slowly.
Inside the living room, the atmosphere was suffocating. Thick sorrow hung in the air. The chandelier light flickered weakly, casting an uneven glow across the room.
There…
Emilia Dary sat on the velvet couch… shoulders shaking violently as she wept. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes swollen red and empty. She clutched a handkerchief like a lifeline, unable to form words.
Beside her, Juliana… the old lady of the Dary Empire… gently held Emilia’s shoulders, comforting her daughter while her own heart broke silently.
Vivian’s breath trembled.
Mom…
Her lips parted.
The word slipped out instinctively…
“Mom…”
Both women turned.
Everything stopped.
Time froze.
Breathing became impossible.
Emilia’s expression warped instantly… grief turning into cold, merciless anger.
“GET OUT!”
Her scream ripped through the room so violently that Vivian flinched.
Vivian blinked, stunned.
The echo of the shout vibrated inside her chest.
“Mom, please…” her voice cracked, weak and small. “I came to…”
“What are you doing here?!” Emilia shot up from the couch, pointing a trembling finger at Vivian. “What are you doing here after killing my husband?! After ruining this family?! After destroying my life?!”
Vivian stepped back.
“I didn’t kill him… I never wanted this… I came to…”
“You came to what?!” Emilia’s voice broke into pieces. “You betrayed us! You disobeyed him until he died with heartbreak!”
Vivian shook her head, tears finally spilling.
“That’s not true… I didn’t mean to…”
Juliana suddenly rose to her feet. Her movements were sharp, decisive, cutting.
“Get out… young lady.”
Young lady.
Not Vivian.
Not granddaughter.
Not my child.
Vivian froze. The word sliced deeper than any insult ever could.
“Grandma…?” her voice quivered. “Why are you calling me… that?”
Juliana’s stare was ice cold.
“You lost any right to be called part of this family the moment you stepped out of this house. I never thought you could do such an evil thing.”
Vivian took a shaky step forward.
“I didn’t come to fight. I came because I can’t watch Mom suffer alone. Please, just let me explain…”
Juliana’s face hardened even more.
“You ruined her life. You ruined this family. You ruined everything.”
Vivian’s voice broke.
“I didn’t ruin anything on purpose…”
Juliana cut her off sharply.
“Emilia, what did I tell you the night you brought her into this house?” Her tone dropped lower, more venomous. “I told you not to do surrogacy.”
Vivian’s heart stopped.
“…what?”
Juliana’s lips curled in bitterness.
“I warned you… this surrogate child would destroy everything you built. And look… wasn’t I right?”
The word surrogate echoed through Vivian’s mind.
Surrogate…
Surrogate child…
She shook her head slowly, like a malfunctioning robot.
“No… no, that’s not… I’m the heiress . I’m the Dary heiress . I’m your granddaughter. What are you talking about?”
Her voice trembled.
Her throat closed up.
Juliana took a step closer, lowering her voice like poison dripping from her tongue.
“You were never part of us. The only person who wanted you… the only one who defended you… the only one who accepted you… is dead.”
Vivian felt the floor tilt beneath her.
“…mom?” she whispered. “Is this true?”
Emilia sat down. She didn’t speak. Didn’t look up. Just kept crying.
The silence was louder than any answer.
“Mom…” Vivian begged. “Look at me. Tell me this is a joke. Tell me it’s some kind of cruel test. Tell me I’m your daughter…”
Emilia remained silent.
Juliana stepped forward again.
“The truth is simple. You are not a Dary. You were carried for us. Purchased. Brought in. And now that the man who accepted you is gone… there is no place for you in this house.”
Vivian broke. Completely.
“No…” she whispered. “No, this can’t be true…”
Juliana turned to the guards.
“GUARDS.”
The double doors of the living room opened instantly.
Two guards stormed in. Vivian panicked.
“No… don’t do this… please… I just want to talk…”
Her voice was drowned out as they grabbed her arms. Her feet slid against the polished marble as they dragged her backward.
“Mom!” she screamed. “Mom please! Look at me!”
Emilia covered her ears and cried harder.
The guards kept pulling her through the long hallway. It felt like a funeral procession… except she was the corpse.
Vivian’s voice echoed, raw and broken.
“Grandma please… don’t do this…!”
No answer.
They reached the main door. Rain thundered louder outside.
“Please let me talk to her… she needs me… she’s grieving…”
The guards didn’t stop.
They pushed the door open and shoved her out into the rain.
She hit the ground on her knees.
Cold water splashed against her skin…
Her face…
Her heart.
The door slammed shut behind her.
She stood on shaky legs and banged the door with weak fists.
“Please!! I’m still your daughter!! Mom open the door!! Please!!”
Her screams melted into the storm.
Inside the mansion, Emilia whispered through her sobs:
“Mom… why did you say those things…?”
Juliana held her hand.
“She needed to go… I think she’s even pregnant.”
“I hate her…” Emilia cried. “I hate her so much…”
Silence filled the mansion.
Outside, rain washed Vivian’s tears away.
She backed away from the door… step by step… until her knees gave out and she collapsed on the driveway.
Her whole body trembled.
The rain soaked her hair… her clothes… her bones.
She hugged her knees tightly to her chest.
“I refuse to believe this…” she whispered. “They are lying… they have to be lying…”
Thunder rumbled faintly.
Vivian stood up eventually… numb… empty… broken.
She walked.
Her feet dragged against the pavement.
Rain fell like liquid glass.
She didn’t know where she was going.
She didn’t know what was ahead.
She only knew she had no home anymore.
A car slowed beside her.
Headlights painted her silhouette.
A man leaned out the window.
“Miss… do you need help? You’re completely soaked…”
Vivian didn’t look up.
“I don’t have anyone…”
He opened the passenger door.
“I’ll take you to where you wanna go.”
Vivian slid into the car.
Not because she trusted him.
Not because she cared.
But because she had nowhere else to go.
Outside, the Dary Empire mansion stood tall in the rain…
but the girl who once dreamed of inheriting it…
was gone.
- Writer
