CHAPTER 3 - The Breaking Point
1029 Words
📖 Chapter 3 – The Breaking Point
The house was quiet, but Lila could feel it — the kind of quiet that wasn’t peace, but a storm gathering in the dark.
She sat on the edge of her bed, clutching her mother’s old diary, the only thing she had left of Evelyn. Its pages smelled faintly of lavender, though the edges were worn, brittle from years of being hidden away. Lila traced her fingers across the inked words: “My daughter is my strength. If anything ever happens to me, I hope she remembers love is stronger than fear.”
Love. The word felt foreign in this house.
“Liiiila,” Piper’s sing-song voice broke the silence, followed by a knock that was far too cheerful.
Lila stiffened. “Go away, Piper.”
The door creaked open anyway. Piper — a year younger, a mirror of Monica in her sharp green eyes — leaned casually against the frame, twirling a strand of her golden hair. Behind her, Jake smirked, hands shoved into his pockets.
“Well, well,” Piper said sweetly. “Father’s furious. I can’t believe you embarrassed him like that at dinner. How selfish can you be?”
Lila’s jaw tightened. “I won’t marry for business.”
Jake chuckled. “And what will you marry for? Love? Don’t make me laugh. No one wants you, Lila. You’re just a burden Father hasn’t thrown out yet.”
Heat rose in Lila’s chest, but she forced herself to stay calm. “Leave.”
Piper stepped inside, her gaze landing on the diary in Lila’s hands. “What’s that?”
“None of your business.”
Before Lila could react, Piper darted forward, snatching it. The sudden tug ripped through Lila like fire. “Give it back!” she shouted, lunging at her stepsister.
Piper screamed — loud, shrill, practiced. “Father! She’s hurting me!”
Jake grinned wide. “Perfect.”
Footsteps thundered up the stairs. Colton burst in, his face flushed with anger. Behind him, Monica appeared, her expression already one of rehearsed concern.
“What is going on here?” Colton roared.
“She—she attacked me!” Piper whimpered, clutching the diary to her chest as though it were her own. Tears welled instantly in her eyes, glistening like polished jewels. “I only came to talk, and she grabbed me—”
“She’s lying!” Lila’s voice cracked, desperation clawing up her throat. “That’s my mother’s—”
“Enough!” Colton’s voice boomed, silencing her. He turned on Lila, his gray eyes blazing. “Is this true? Did you lay a hand on your sister?”
“She’s not my sister!” Lila’s fury erupted before she could stop it.
The room froze.
Monica gasped softly, one hand covering her mouth in mock shock. Jake chuckled darkly. Piper sniffled, lowering her gaze like a wounded saint.
Colton’s hand struck before Lila even saw it coming. The slap cracked across her cheek, burning, the force knocking her back a step.
Her vision blurred, tears stinging her eyes — not from pain, but from the shattering inside her chest.
“Ungrateful wretch,” Colton snarled. “After everything I’ve given you, this is how you repay me? Defiance. Disrespect. Violence.”
“She’s lying,” Lila whispered, clutching her stinging face. “That diary is mine—”
Colton ripped it from Piper’s hands, not to return it, but to fling it onto the floor. The pages splayed across the carpet, Evelyn’s words exposed and trampled beneath his boots.
“Your mother is dead,” Colton hissed. “And you’ll join her if you keep testing me.”
For a moment, silence swallowed the room. Monica stepped forward, placing a delicate hand on Colton’s arm. Her voice was low, soothing.
“Darling, don’t waste your temper. She’s not worth it. If she refuses to be a daughter, then let her go. We have Jake. We have Piper. We don’t need her.”
Her words dripped poison into his ear. Colton’s chest heaved, but slowly his expression hardened into something colder than rage.
“You’re right,” he said. His eyes locked on Lila. “From this moment on, you are no longer my daughter. You are nothing to this family.”
The words struck harder than the slap.
Piper’s lips curved into a victorious smile she quickly masked behind lowered lashes. Jake’s laughter rumbled in his chest. Monica’s hand lingered on Colton’s arm like a queen guiding her king.
Lila’s knees trembled, but she refused to fall. Her voice was barely audible, but it carried: “Then I’ll be nothing on my own terms. Not yours.”
Colton’s glare followed her as she fled the room, her mother’s diary clutched tight to her chest.
---
Piper’s POV
The moment Lila’s footsteps faded, Piper’s tears vanished. She straightened, smoothing her hair, her lips curling in delight.
“Finally,” she murmured.
Jake smirked. “You’re getting better at that crying act.”
Piper tilted her chin proudly. “I learned from the best.” She glanced at Monica, who stood in the doorway, watching with unreadable eyes.
“Remember this, Piper,” Monica said softly. “Lila was always Evelyn’s child. She’ll never be yours. The world has no mercy for the weak. Don’t waste your time pitying her.”
“I don’t,” Piper said coldly. “I just want to see her gone.”
Monica’s smile deepened. “And she will be. One way or another.”
---
Monica’s POV
When Colton stormed back into his study, muttering curses and pouring another drink, Monica lingered in the hallway, her children beside her. She let her mask slip for a moment, the satisfaction on her face glowing like firelight.
Lila was out. Evelyn’s ghost was silenced further.
But Monica’s thoughts ran deeper.
She still clings to that diary. Foolish girl. If she ever discovers the truth of what happened to Evelyn…
Monica’s gaze darkened, her fingers tightening around Piper’s shoulder.
No. She would not allow it.
Lila had been her shadow for too long. It was time to erase her completely.
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- Writer
