REBIRTH FOR YOU

BETRAYED

Lance and Briselle turned toward the door and shock and horror wes boldly visible on their faces as they saw Ella standing there.

Ella stood frozen at her spot with her breath caught in her throat as the truth crashed over her.

But then her pain and betrayal turned into a fierce, blinding rage. She couldn’t hold it in any longer and rushed at them, hitting them with her hand and her bag. “How could you?!” she screamed, her voice cracking with anguish.

Briselle shrieked and darted behind Lance, using him as a shield. “Lance, do something!” she cried out.

Lance quickly moved to protect Briselle, his arms outstretched to block Ella’s wild blows. “Ella, stop! Calm down!” he shouted, trying to restrain her.

But Ella was beyond reason. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her own husband was protecting the woman who had betrayed her and destroyed their marriage. The sight of them together, with Lance defending Briselle, made her stomach turn.

“You’re defending her?!” Ella panted heavily, her eyes filled with shock and hurt as she looked at Lance.

“We didn’t mean for it to happen like this,” Lance tried to explain. “We didn’t want to hurt you, Ella.”

Ella’s blood boiled at his words. “You didn’t want to hurt me?! Lance! How can you do this to me? Why? What did I do to deserve this?”

Lance’s face tightened with guilt, but Ella cut him off. “How long has this been going on? How long have you been doing this?” Ella demanded.

“Since our wedding night,” Lance replied, his head hung low.

“What?” Ella asked, unable to believe what she had just heard.

Ella’s head spun as she remembered how Lance had left to get wine but later called her, saying he received an urgent call from work and wouldn’t be back soon.

“So, you left me alone on our wedding night because of her?”

“I'm… sorry.” Lance stuttered.

Briselle, still hiding behind Lance, peeked out nervously. “Ella, it wasn’t supposed to go this far,” she said, her voice trembling. “I was just curious, that’s all.”

“Curious?” Ella’s voice was filled with rage as tears brimmed at the corners of her eyes. “Curious about what, Briselle?”

Briselle hesitated, then slowly stepped out from behind Lance. She knew there was no use hiding now. “You were always bragging about Lance,” she said, her voice quieter now, almost ashamed. “You just keep talking about how amazing Lance was and you are always bragging about him. I just wanted to see what was so special about him.”

Ella’s mouth dropped open in shock. “You seduced my husband out of curiosity?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Briselle nodded, her eyes downcast. “I didn’t think it would hurt you like this, Ella. I just wanted to see for myself.”

“No, that’s not true. She really loves me, and we both promised to be together,” Lance said, holding Briselle while she tried to push him away.

Ella couldn’t believe what was unfolding right in front of her. She clenched her hand into a fist as anger surged through her. “You ruined my marriage for all because of that?! You destroyed everything I have worked hard for, Briselle!” she yelled and heaved out as she looked at the two of them with disdain. “So tell me, do you find him amazing? How was he in bed? Have you satisfied your curiosity and now you’re just going to walk away without any repercussions?”

Briselle looked up at Ella. “ What else do you want? I'm returning him back to you! I don’t need Lance anymore, so you can have him back.”

Ella’s anger boiled over as Briselle said that and she lunged at Briselle again, but Lance quickly stepped in, grabbing her arms to hold her back.

“Stop it, Ella! This isn’t going to help anything!” he shouted.

Ella struggled against his grip, “How could you do this to me, Lance? How could you betray me like this?” she cried out.

Lance held her tightly, his face twisted with guilt. “I’m sorry, Ella. Believe me, I never wanted to hurt you. But Briselle… she just made me feel alive in a way I hadn’t felt with you. I always felt beneath you, you were always perfect and it makes me feel miserable but Briselle understands everything, she understands what I was going through. So please let us be together.”

“ What!? Are you out of your mind!?who the heck would want to be with you!” Briselle screamed at Lance while Lance still refused to believe that Briselle really had no feelings for him.

As the two of them fight, Ella remembers the doctor's words about the few months she has to survive and then this happened. She burst into a heavy laughter while lance and Briselle stopped arguing and wondered what was wrong with her.

“You want a divorce, don't you?” she asked and Lance nodded his head. “Fine. I’ll give you what you want. But I’m going to tell everyone what you did. I’ll ruin you both.”

Briselle’s face went white with fear. “No! Ella, you can’t!” she cried, stepping forward. “You can’t tell anyone! It would destroy my marriage! Do you know how hard it took me before I gained Kayden's heart?”

Ella turned on her, her eyes blazing with anger. “You should have thought about that before you slept with my husband, you w***e!” she shouted. “I’m going to tell everyone. I’ll make sure the whole world knows what you both did.”

“No!” Briselle screamed as fear gripped her. She rushed toward Ella and grabbed her arm, trying to stop her from leaving. “You can’t do this! Please, don’t ruin my life!”

Ella yanked her arm away, her face set in a cold, determined expression. “You ruined mine first, Briselle. Now it’s your turn to suffer.”

Briselle’s eyes filled with tears as she saw the determination in Ella’s face. “Please, Ella, don’t do this! I’ll do anything!” she begged, her voice trembling with fear.

But Ella was done listening. She turned on her heel and headed for the door. She wasn’t going to let them get away with this.

As Ella reached for the door, Briselle’s panic reached a last limit and she couldn’t let Ella leave. In her desperation to make Ella stop from leaving, she grabs her. But in her frantic state as Ella was struggling from her grip, she ended up shoving Ella than she intended to.

Ella stumbled backward with her foot catching on the edge of the rug. She lost her balance and fell, hitting her head on the corner of the table.

The room fell silent and for a moment, no one moved as Ella’s body lay on the ground and a pool of blood spreaded out beneath her head.

Briselle stared down at Ella in fear and her hands trembling as she realized what she had just done. “Ella… oh my God, Ella!” she screamed..

Lance stood at the same spot, frozen. His eyes widened with shock as he looked at his wife who was lying in her own pool of blood. He couldn’t believe what had just happened.

Not knowing what else to do, Briselle quickly picked up her phone and decided to call the ambulance. Her fingers shaking as she tried to dial the digit.

“We need to call for help,” Briselle whispered. “She’s still alive… we can still save her.”

But before she could complete dialing the digit, Lance snatched the phone away from her hand. “Are you insane? Do you want to go to jail?” he hissed, gripping her arm tightly. “Think! What happens if you call an ambulance and people discover you did this to her!”

Briselle’s heart pounded in her chest. “But Lance… she’s my sister,” she choked out, her voice trembling. “We can’t just let her die. We can’t!”

Briselle felt dizzy, the room spinning around her. She couldn’t think and couldn’t breathe. All she could see was Ella, lying there and dying because of her. The only person she could think of was her mother.

“Mom,” she whispered. “I need to call Mom. She’ll know what to do.”

Lance let out a frustrated sigh but didn’t stop her as Briselle dialed her mother’s number.

Minutes later, her mother, Camile, arrived. She looked at Ella on the ground without a hint of emotion on her face. Briselle rushed to her, tears streaming down her face. “Mom, I… I didn’t mean for this to happen! Ella… she fell, and now she’s…”

Her mother cut her off, her voice sharp. “Enough, Briselle. Stop crying. We don’t have time for tears.”

Briselle stared at her mother and was shocked by how her mother could remain calm at this time. “But Mom… She's dying. We need to help her!”

Her mother glanced at Ella, her lips curling in disdain. “Shush, Ella is sick, dear. Very sick. She doesn’t have much time left.”

“What are you talking about?” Briselle asked, confused. “She’s still breathing. We can still save her.”

Camile’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Briselle, a hint of annoyance in her gaze. “I found out not long ago that Ella has a terminal illness. She’s going to die soon anyway. So, we’ll tell everyone she died from that.”

Briselle’s heart sank as she processed Camile’s words. “But… she’s not dead yet. We can still help her,” she pleaded.

Lance stepped forward, siding with Camile. “Briselle, listen to your mother. If Ella wakes up, she won’t let us get away with this. She’ll ruin us all. Do you really think she’ll stay quiet after everything we’ve done to her?”

Briselle shook her head, tears blurring her vision. “But I can’t just let her die, Lance… She’s my sister.”

Camile grabbed her shoulders, shaking her slightly. “Briselle, you need to think about your future. You’re about to marry Kayden Bane, the richest man in the world. Do you want to throw that all away because of this?”

Briselle felt her stomach churn as her mother’s words sank in. Was she really considering letting her sister die for money, for power? “But… but that’s wrong. It’s evil,” she whispered, horrified.

“Evil?” Camile scoffed. “Evil is letting her wake up and take everything that was supposed to belong to us. Have you forgotten how your useless father willed everything to her without even leaving anything for you? And do you think she’ll forgive you for pushing her? So you need to be strong, Briselle. This is the only way for you to have everything at your feet. All the Mayfair business and Kayden Bane, would be at your feet.”

Briselle looked at Lance and his eyes pleaded with her to listen, to agree with her mother. She looked at her mother, who had a determined expression on her face. And then looked at Ella, who was still lying on the floor and struggling for every breath.

Her heart broke as she watched Ella fighting for her life . She loved her sister so much and really never intended for any of this to happen. She just wanted to snatch something away from Ella as Ella always had everything including their father's love. But she did not think she could afford losing everything all because she wanted to save her.

Briselle looked at Camille and nodded, giving in to their plan.

Camile began to make some phone calls to arrange a private car to take Ella away. “We’ll take care of everything. Just stick to the story,” she instructed coldly.

As they planned their cover-up story, Ella lay on the floor, her breaths were shallow and labored. She could hear every word they said, feel every bit of their betrayal cutting deeper into her soul. Tears slipped down her face as she realized that all these years, she had been surrounded by monsters. The people she had loved and trusted, had all turned against her.

As the darkness closed in, Ella prayed silently, her heart full of pain and sorrow. “God… please… give me another chance… another chance to make them pay… to make things right…”

And as life slowly slipped away from her, Ella’s final prayer hung in the air, unanswered.