When The Arrow Falls

Chapter 2: The Unexpected Announcement

The hallway buzzed with the usual school noise, voices blending with the sound of shoes scuffing the floors. Dana walked with Selah and Isla, who were still buzzing about the archery match from the day before.

"I can’t believe you actually won, Dana!" Selah exclaimed, grinning at her best friend. "Vittoria really thought she had it in the bag. I mean, she was so sure of herself, right?"

Isla laughed. "Yeah, you could see the look on her face when the arrow hit the target. She was stunned."

Dana shrugged, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "It’s not a big deal. It’s just a competition."

"But it is a big deal!" Selah insisted. "Vittoria was talking all this trash before the match. You put her in her place!"

Dana didn’t say anything more. She wasn’t one to boast, and her victory felt less like a triumph and more like something that had been expected of her. Archery was something she’d always been good at, something she did in honor of her mom. But lately, everything felt different—like the victory had no meaning anymore.

As they approached their lockers, Dana’s gaze flickered back to the bulletin board on the far wall. There, amidst the usual announcements and flyers, was something she didn’t expect—a tabloid with her dad’s face plastered across it. Beside him was Beatrice Santiago’s face, bright and smiling, the woman who had been her mom’s best friend. The headline in bold letters screamed:

“Business Tycoon, Damien del Prado Announces Engagement to Former Archer, Beatrice Santiago."

She swallowed hard, trying to steady her breathing, but the lump in her throat was too thick. "I—I didn’t see it," she managed to say, her voice sounding foreign even to her own ears.

Isla raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? It’s all over the place. Everyone’s talking about it. This is huge, Dana."

Dana’s heart pounded in her chest as she tried to piece together her thoughts. How could she have missed this? How could her dad have kept something like this from her? Her mind raced with questions that she couldn’t even begin to ask.

"I guess he just didn’t mention it," Dana said, trying to sound casual, but failing miserably.

"But that’s... weird, right?" Selah pressed. "I mean, they’re engaged? Aren't they old for this? Besides, I would think you’d be the first to know. Is everything okay at home?"

Dana stiffened, forcing a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. "Yeah, I’m sure it’s fine. It’s just—just a lot to process, I guess."

But her friends weren’t convinced. Isla shot Selah a worried glance before stepping closer to Dana. "Are you sure you’re okay with this?" she asked, her voice quiet, almost hesitant. "I mean, I know Beatrice is your mom’s best friend, but... this is kind of... a lot."

Dana’s stomach twisted. She could feel her friends’ eyes on her, waiting for her to crack, to break, to admit that something was wrong. But how could she explain what she was feeling when she didn’t even understand it herself?

"Yeah," Dana said, her voice thin. "I’ll be fine. Really."

But inside, Dana felt anything but fine. She felt betrayed. Not by Beatrice, not entirely—but by her dad. How could he move on so easily? How could he be so ready to replace her mom with someone else?

As they continued their walk down the hallway, the world seemed to blur around Dana. Her thoughts kept returning to the tabloid—Beatrice, smiling in the photo, standing beside her dad. Vittoria, too—she could almost hear her laughing, taunting Dana about how rich her father was. How rich and important Beatrice was. It all made sense now.

Vittoria would be thrilled. She would love this. Her mother, now married to Dana’s father. That was what Vittoria had always wanted. To be closer to the power, to the wealth, to the attention that Dana had always taken for granted.

"Did you talk to your dad about it?" Isla’s voice cut through Dana’s thoughts again.

Dana shook her head, trying to hide the panic that was rising within her. "No. Not yet."

Her friends exchanged another glance, and for a moment, Dana saw something in their eyes that made her heart ache—a kind of pity. They didn’t know what to say. They didn’t know how to make it better, how to make her feel like everything was still normal. But it wasn’t normal. Nothing about this was normal.

Later, in their first class of the day, Dana sat in silence, her mind swirling. It felt like the walls were closing in around her. The air was thick with the weight of everything she hadn’t said. Her fingers drummed lightly on the edge of the desk, but it didn’t help to ground her.

"Did you see the picture of your dad and my mom in that tabloid?" The voice came from behind her, a familiar, taunting one.

Dana turned around slowly, her breath catching in her throat when she saw Vittoria standing there, leaning against the desk with a smug look on her face.

Vittoria.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder with her eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh, yeah. I'll be transferring here. This will be my new school now."

"What?"

"Isn't it fun?" Vittoria’s smile widened. "I bet you’re not too happy about it, huh? Your dad is getting married to my mom, I'll be studying the same school with you. Everything you have is also mine now. But you know, I’m actually pretty excited. It’s going to be great for us. Right?"

Dana didn’t respond. She couldn’t. The words were caught in her throat, tangled up in the mess of emotions that threatened to overwhelm her.

Vittoria’s grin didn’t fade. "Well, anyway, I hope you don’t mind sharing your dad with us. It’s going to be a lot of fun, don’t you think?"

Dana couldn’t even look at her. Instead, she turned her gaze to the window, the outside world seeming so much more distant than it ever had before. How could she explain this to anyone? How could she make them understand the hurt, the betrayal, the confusion that was swirling inside her?

"Yeah," she whispered, almost to herself. "It’s going to be a lot of fun."

***

Dana’s ride home felt longer than usual. The world outside the car window blurred into a mess of colors—golden sunlight, swaying trees, flashes of buildings—but she barely noticed. Her mind was stuck on the headline. On Vittoria’s smug face. On her father’s silence.

She clenched her fists on her lap, her nails digging into her palm. How long had her dad been keeping this from her? How long had Beatrice been sneaking into their lives, pretending to be just a family friend while secretly planning to replace her mom?

By the time the car rolled into their driveway, Dana felt suffocated. She stepped out, the cold evening air hitting her skin, but it didn’t calm the fire burning in her chest.

She stormed into the house.

The warm scent of food greeted her, but she wasn’t in the mood for dinner. Not when she knew what was coming. She dropped her bag by the door and marched into the dining room. And there he was—her father, seated at the table, scrolling through his phone like nothing had happened.

She stopped in the doorway. “So, when were you planning to tell me?”

Her father looked up, caught off guard. “Dana?” He set his phone down, his expression shifting. “Tell you what?”

She let out a hollow laugh. He’s really going to pretend?

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, crossing her arms. “Maybe about your engagement?”

His face stiffened. A flicker of guilt passed through his eyes, but he recovered quickly, straightening in his chair. “I was going to tell you tonight.”

Dana scoffed. “Right. After the whole country already found out? How thoughtful of you.”

He sighed, rubbing his temples. “Dana, I know this is sudden—”

“Sudden?” she cut him off. “You’ve been keeping this to me! And you never thought I deserved to know?”

Her father exhaled, standing up from his chair. “It wasn’t easy for me to bring this up. I didn’t know how you’d react.”

Dana’s throat tightened. Because you knew I’d hate it.

“She was Mom’s best friend,” she said, her voice shaking. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

His jaw tensed. “Of course, it does. But things change, Dana. People move on.”

Her stomach twisted. “So that’s it? You’ve moved on?”

Her father hesitated. “It’s been years. Your mom wouldn’t have wanted me to be alone forever.”

Dana felt like the ground beneath her was crumbling. “You don’t know what Mom would have wanted.”

“Dana—”

“No,” she stepped back, shaking her head. “You don’t get to act like this is normal. Like I should just accept it.”

Her father sighed heavily, his voice softening. “I love you, Dana. And I know this is hard for you, but Beatrice—she’s a good woman. She cares about you.”

Dana’s chest tightened. “She’s Vittoria’s mom.”

Silence.

For the first time, her father looked guilty. He knew how much Dana and Vittoria hated each other. And now, they were supposed to be family?

“I know your history with Vittoria,” he said carefully, “but this is bigger than that.”

Dana swallowed the lump in her throat. She could already see it—Vittoria flaunting her new position in Dana’s life, rubbing it in her face every chance she got. Guess we’re sisters now, Dana. Oh, and my mom’s your new mom. What a dream, right?

She couldn’t breathe.

“I can’t do this,” Dana whispered.

Her father’s eyes filled with concern. “Dana, please, just give it time.”

But she didn’t want to give it time. She wanted things to stop. To go back. To make this not real.

She turned on her heel and walked away, ignoring her father calling her name. She made it to her room, shutting the door behind her.

And then, finally, the tears came.

She slid down against the door, hugging her knees to her chest as her vision blurred. The walls of her room felt suffocating. This house—this home—wasn’t hers anymore.

Her dad had made his choice. And it wasn’t her.

Her hands curled into fists. If he wanted a new life with them, then fine.

She would find a way to live without him.