My Twins Brought Me Riches

Two - Smoke and Ghosts

The sharp smell of antiseptic woke me up, along with the steady beep of machines. I blinked against the harsh white lights, my head pounding.

I remembered what happened clearly and I turned my head, expecting to see an apologetic Raymond. But a blank-faced doctor greeted me.

“Welcome back, Miss Caddell. How are you feeling?”

I tried to answer but my voice came out as a croak, an echo of pain blooming in my back.

“Take it easy.” She passed me a glass of water. “You had quite a fall. Minor concussion and a bruised shin, but you’ll be fine. However, you need to take it easy for the next few weeks for the sake of your baby.”

I nearly choked on the water. “Baby? What baby?”

“You’re two months pregnant, Miss.”

The words rang like a distant echo. I stared at her, waiting for some kind of reaction to rise inside me—shock, joy, fear—but nothing came. Just a hollow silence that swallowed everything.

Her eyes searched my face with worry. “Is there someone I can call for you?”

“Who brought me here?”

“Your fiancé, Mr. Raymond Manchester. He stayed until you were stable last night, but he hasn’t returned. We tried calling him, it didn’t go through.”

I sighed. If he hadn’t come back, it meant he was still angry at me about our fight. Raymond could be petty like that.

I signed the discharge papers, insisting I was fine and tuned out the doctor when she advised me to rest.

I didn’t need rest.

***

By the time the cab dropped me at Raymond’s penthouse, my body ached and sagged from fatigue.

I found the door open and let myself in. I needed to tell Raymond about the baby, to get the comfort of his arms as we planned our next move.

We’d have to speed up the wedding and get baby things… and I would find another job.

My body visibly shrank at the thought of starting from scratch, the haunting memories of everything I’d lost filling my head.

I wiped silent tears that began to fall as the door clicked shut.

I’d taken only two steps when I heard laughter coming from the kitchen. It was light, feminine and very flirty.

Stopping in the doorway, I froze at the sight in the kitchen. Raymond was by the stove, shirtless in gray sweatpants that hung low on his hips, flipping something in a pan. Cassandra sat on the counter beside him with her long legs swinging, wearing one of his white shirts and nothing else. Her auburn hair was tousled like she’d just rolled out of bed.

They looked… intimate, like I was intruding. “What the hell is going on here?”

Cassandra looked over her shoulder, her laughter fading. No flicker of surprise in her eyes as our eyes locked. “What is this trash doing here? I thought she left.”

I ignored her, my eyes seeking Raymond. “What is she doing in our house?”

He turned slowly, his expression hard. “I invited her. And this isn’t our house—it’s mine. What are you doing back so soon? Shouldn’t you be resting in the hospital?”

I let out a bitter scoff. “We have a wedding to plan, Raymond. Because I’m—”

“Oh, sis, there won’t be any wedding.” Cassandra rolled her eyes, twirling a strand of hair. “Didn’t you get the memo?”

“Cassandra, don’t insert yourself in my conversation with my fiancé,” I said sharply.

Raymond set the spatula down and walked over to her, sliding his hand possessively along her thigh. “She’s right. It’s over, Lily.”

A cold chill ran down my spine. “What?”

Raymond reached into his pocket lazily and pulled out a diamond ring—bigger, flashier than the one he’d given me. He slipped it onto Cassandra’s finger right in front of me. The stone glittering in the light.

“This morning,” he said, kissing her knuckles. “I proposed to the woman I actually want…and she said yes.”

Shock rooted me in place. “Is this a joke? You’re breaking up with me… because of one of our fights yesterday? If this is one of your silly punishments, then fine, you win, Raymond. Now stop this madness.”

“It’s part of your punishment, yes,” he said, his voice laced with venom. “But honestly, I’m done with you. I’ve had eyes for Cassie for a long time. I just didn’t know how to end things because you were too kind, too willing to do anything for me. I used your name and connections and now you have nothing. You’re useless to me, Lily.”

He leaned over to kiss her temple, the action too casual to be practiced. “Everything belongs to Cassie and me. We’re going to be the power couple this city needs. And the likes of you are not part of our love story.”

The room spun. I felt like I was watching someone else’s nightmare.

Cassandra smirked. “Don’t cry, sis. It shouldn’t come as a shock that nobody will ever love you. Tell you what—I’ll be generous and make you my personal assistant. How does that sound? You can be making my coffee.”

Anger surged through the hurt. “Why don’t you just admit you need me to run the company for you? Because we both know you can’t do shit.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “Please. I’ll hire plenty of Ivy League degree holders and run MY company. I have everything now. Unlike you.”

I looked straight at her, letting every bit of pain fuel my words. “You’re nothing but an illegitimate child, Cassandra. Raymond is simply using you and the moment he’s done, he’ll dump you just like he’s dumping me.”

Raymond’s face twisted with rage. “Get the hell out of my house!”

But Cassandra raised a hand calmly, still smiling and slipped off the counter.

“Let me handle this, babe.” She gave him a sweet peck on the mouth and walked to me.

The action twisted my gut with nausea. I wondered how long this had been going on and why I was too blind to see it until it was too late.

I wanted to scream and fight but the baby now in my belly and tiredness seeping into my bones told me it was a bad idea. Cassandra grabbed my arm roughly, and I let her drag me into the hall, wincing at her nails digging into my skin.

“Listen here, you b***h,” she snarled. “I wouldn’t care if Raymond is using me. I’m not a love-sick, pathetic puppy like you. I don’t get attached to men.” She gazed at me pitifully, then added casually. “I altered Daddy’s will, you know. I made sure I got everything I wanted—including Raymond.”

I stiffened. Her confession hung in the air between us like smoke.

My shoulders slumped. “You…”

“Mother helped me, of course, but that look on your face makes everything I had to do worth it.” She pushed me roughly into the wall, flinging my purse too. “I may be the illegitimate child like you say, but I always win, Lily. Now get out before I call the cops.”

There was nothing left to say, so I picked myself up and staggered to the door. Tears of shame and agony spilled down my face.

Right before I opened the door, Cassandra blew me a parting kiss.

“Rot in hell, sis.”

The door slammed behind me like a final nail in my coffin.

***

The lawyer blinked at me like I was a lunatic after I’d barged into his office to tell him about Cassie’s confession, begging him to investigate the will.

“Don’t just sit there, do something!”

He shook his head regretfully. “We can’t, Miss Lily. There’s no evidence of wrongdoing and contesting a will is… expensive.” With a painful look, he pulled out a dollar and slid it across the table to me.

“That’s all you have.”

His words and the mocking inheritance were enough to make fresh tears pool in my eyes. My fists trembled at the utter feeling of helplessness.

“Forget it!” I stormed out, leaving the dollar on the table.

By evening, I found myself in Central Park, sitting on a bench as the sun dipped low. My hands were laid on my stomach as if that alone could protect the baby growing in my womb.

Two months pregnant with Raymond’s child, the words echoed in my head. A man who had comfortably thrown away four years of our lives in two days.

The thought made bile rise in my throat and tears well in my eyes. I didn’t want any part of that cheater growing inside me. I hated him now. I hated Cassandra. I hated Alistair f*****g Caddell, who had put me through this.

Beyond the hate I had, there was an inkling of love for the baby in my stomach.

“But love isn’t enough, little one,” I whispered to my belly. “I can’t take care of you.”

I couldn’t imagine bringing a child into this world when I had nothing to take care of it.

It was a pain I refused to lay on an innocent child whose only crime was to be conceived.

My heart hardened with resolve. “I can’t keep you. I’m sorry.”

I would have an abortion. Spare it from a painful life in this cruel world and try to pick up the pieces of my broken life.

Quiet tears slipped down my cheeks as I stared at the swaying trees and the people having picnics in the grass. They looked so happy. It hurt so much how the world had moved on while my life had fallen apart.

My phone suddenly vibrated in my lap, pulling me out of my thoughts. I frowned at the unknown number and ignored it. I bet it was Chloe calling me to gloat.

After the third insistent ring, I sighed heavily and answered. “Stop calling me, Chloe. I know you’ve won.”

A strange silence followed, so unlike Chloe. I realized then it was probably someone else.

“Who is this?”

A beat passed before a deep voice spoke softly. “Lily…?”

My breath caught. That voice. The familiar way it said my name.

It was impossible. It belonged to my dead brother.

“Josh?” I whispered, my heart pounding wildly.

The line crackled for a moment before he spoke again. “Hi, little sis. We need to talk.”