Amelia

Chapter 3 – Whispers at Home

Amelia sat curled up at her desk, her laptop glowing faintly in the dimness of her room. Lines of code blurred before her eyes, but she forced herself to keep typing. It was the only place she felt in control, the only place where her clumsy body and pale, chubby frame didn’t matter, just her mind, sharp and focused, weaving solutions out of logic.

Downstairs, she could hear laughter. Pearl’s laughter.

It rang through the Peterson house like a melody, sweet and sharp at the same time. Levi’s voice followed, lower, rumbling, carrying that note of warmth Amelia hadn’t heard directed at her in weeks.

Her stomach twisted. She’s just visiting for her modeling work, Amelia told herself. It’s nothing.

But the sound of them together so natural, so easy it pricked at her. She shut her laptop a little too hard and climbed off the chair, the floorboards creaking as she made her way toward the living room.

There they were.

Pearl lounged effortlessly across the sofa, golden hair spilling over her shoulders, blue eyes sparkling as she laughed at something Levi whispered. Levi sat close, his arm draped across the back of the couch in a way that looked casual but felt… intimate. Too intimate.

Amelia froze in the doorway.

Ruby noticed her first. Her mother’s lips thinned. “Amelia,” she said, her tone clipped, as though Amelia had interrupted something important. “You should do something about your posture, dear. No wonder you always look so tired. You’re twenty-two, not fifty.”

Pearl smirked faintly but said nothing. Levi glanced over, his expression unreadable. Then, almost too smoothly, he shifted just enough to create distance between himself and Pearl.

“Work keeping you busy?” he asked Amelia. The way he said work made it sound trivial, as though her late nights of coding were nothing but a hobby.

“I’m… fine,” Amelia murmured. She wished her voice didn’t shake.

Ruby sighed, rising gracefully from her seat. Even at forty-seven, she moved like a woman accustomed to admiration. “Honestly, Amelia, you bury yourself in those gadgets of yours, but what good will that do? Look at your sister, she understands presence, beauty, value. You could learn from her.”

Pearl tilted her head, offering Amelia a mock-sympathetic smile. “Don’t take it the wrong way, Lia. Not everyone’s meant for the spotlight. You’re… different.”

The word stung, though Pearl had spoken it softly, almost sweetly. Different. Always different. Too plain, too chubby, too quiet.

Amelia mumbled something about needing to check on an email and turned away, her throat tight. She barely made it back to her room before the tears spilled, hot and angry.

She sat back at her desk, fingers trembling as they hovered over the keyboard. The muffled laughter drifted up through the floorboards again, chasing her into her sanctuary.

For a long moment, she just sat there, staring at the blinking cursor on the screen. Then, almost without thinking, she opened a new tab and searched the careers page of Hérmes Tech.

Her heart thudded.

The company she’d dreamed of since she was a teenager, the empire built on innovation, the place she believed she might finally belong. The job postings gleamed back at her, full of requirements that made her palms sweat.

Ruby’s words echoed in her ears. Look at your sister… You could learn from her.

Pearl’s mocking smile haunted her. You’re different.

And Levi’s laughter downstairs still twisted like a knife.

Amelia swallowed hard and began filling out the application.

Her hands shook as she typed in her details, her experiences, her little portfolio of projects she had built in the shadows while the world looked past her. She hesitated before clicking “submit,” but then she thought of Pearl’s smirk, Levi’s quiet neglect, her mother’s disappointed sighs.

Her finger pressed down.

Application submitted.

It was the smallest rebellion, a whisper of defiance, but in that moment it felt like the loudest scream of her life.