VALE'S BETRAYAL

Nothing was ever yours

I don’t get far.

I tell myself I will.

That I’ll keep walking until the ache in my chest dulls into something manageable, something I can carry without feeling like I’m breaking apart with every step.

But my body doesn’t agree.

My legs feel heavy. My head light.

And the night—

The night feels too big.

Too empty.

I stop at the edge of the road, wrapping my arms around myself as the cold seeps deeper into my skin.

The dress isn’t enough.

Of course it isn’t.

Nothing I have is enough anymore.

A pair of headlights cuts through the darkness.

I barely pay attention at first—Even though cars rarely pass all the time since it's a private family estate.

But this one slows.

Then turns.

My breath catches.

No.

I know that car.

It glides smoothly toward the estate gates I just walked out of.

Familiar. Expensive. Belonging.

Lila.

For a second, I think I might be imagining it.

That maybe my mind is just trying to hurt me more than it already has.

But then the window rolls down.

And I see her.

Her eyes find mine instantly.

The car stops.

And just like that—

Everything I was trying to hold together starts to crack again.

She steps out slowly.

Carefully.

Like she’s approaching something fragile.

“Kim…”

I let out a short, empty laugh.

It doesn’t sound like me.

“Don’t,” I say, my voice sharper than I expect. “Don’t say my name like that.”

She flinches.

Good.

Because I’m done being the only one who feels anything.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

The question is stupid.

We both know the answer.

She hesitates, glancing back at the gates before looking at me again.

“I was coming to see you.”

“Why?” The word comes out flat. “To congratulate yourself?”

Her face tightens.

“It’s not like that.”

“Then what is it like, Lila?” My voice rises, just slightly. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks exactly like that.”

She steps closer.

I step back.

“Kim, please—”

“How long?”

The words cut through everything.

Clean. Direct.

Unavoidable.

She freezes.

And that—

That tells me everything.

But I need to hear it.

I need to hear her say it.

“How long have you known?” I ask, quieter now. “About the engagement, the embarrassment… all of it.”

Her lips part.

Close.

Then part again.

“A long time,” she whispers.

Something inside me goes completely still.

“How long is a long time?” I press.

She looks down.

“I don’t know… months. Maybe longer.”

Months.

I nod slowly.

Because if I don’t, I might fall apart right here.

“And you didn’t think to tell me?” I ask.

My voice is calm.

Too calm.

“I didn’t know how,” she says quickly. “Kim, you don’t understand, it wasn’t that simple—”

“Of course it was,” I cut in, a bitter laugh slipping out. “You just open your mouth and say the truth. That’s how it works.”

“I was scared,” she snaps suddenly.

I blink.

“I was scared of them,” she continues, her voice shaking now. “You know what they’re like. You know what they can do. I couldn’t just—”

“You couldn’t just what?” I step closer now, my chest tight, my pulse loud in my ears. “Warn me? Give me a chance? Treat me like I mattered even a little?”

“I do care about you!”

The words hit me harder than they should.

“Do you?” I ask softly.

Because if this is what caring looks like—

I don’t want it.

Her eyes fill with something that looks like guilt.

Like regret.

But it’s too late for that.

“They told you everything, didn’t they?” I continue. “About me. About why I’m here. What I’m worth.”

She doesn’t answer.

She doesn’t need to.

“And you still stood there,” I whisper, my voice breaking now despite everything I’ve tried to hold together, “and let them do that to me.”

“I didn’t know it would happen like that,” she says quickly. “I didn’t know they would—”

“Humiliate me?” I finish for her. “Erase me? Throw me away like I was nothing?”

Silence.

And in that silence—

I get my answer.

I nod slowly.

“Wow,” I breathe.

Because there’s nothing else left to say.

Nothing left to hold on to.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers again.

I shake my head.

“No,” I say quietly. “You’re not.”

Because if she was—

She wouldn’t be standing here.

She wouldn’t be going back inside.

She wouldn’t be marrying him.

“You chose this,” I add.

Her expression crumples slightly.

“I didn’t have a choice.”

I almost laugh.

“There’s always a choice,” I say.

“I just wasn’t yours.”

That lands.

I see it in the way she flinches.

But I don’t stay to watch it.

I turn.

And this time—

I walk away for real.

“Kim!” she calls after me.

I don’t stop.

I don’t look back.

Because if I do—

I might break all over again.

And I don’t think I’ll survive it twice.

“Miss Kimberly!”

The voice comes from behind me.

Familiar.

Soft.

Breathless.

I freeze.

Slowly—

I turn.

And there she is.

Mrs. Agnes.

Her small frame is wrapped in a shawl, her gray hair slightly disheveled like she left in a hurry.

Her eyes—

Kind. Worried.

Real.

Something in my chest tightens painfully.

“Miss Kimberly,” she repeats, hurrying toward me. “I was looking for you.”

I blink rapidly.

Because suddenly—

It’s too much.

“Agnes…” my voice cracks.

“Oh, my dear child,” she murmurs, reaching me and pulling something around my shoulders.

A coat.

Warm.

Soft.

I didn’t even realize how cold I was.

“I couldn’t let you go like that,” she says quietly.

My throat tightens.

She presses something into my hands.

A small bag.

“There’s some food,” she adds. “And a little money.”

I shake my head immediately.

“No, I can’t take this.”

“You can,” she says firmly, her gentle voice leaving no room for argument. “And you will.”

“Agnes—”

“They are not good people,” she whispers, glancing back toward the estate. “Not the way you think. I have seen things… heard things…”

My heart stutters.

“You need to be careful,” she continues, her grip tightening slightly on my hands. “You need to leave, and you need to stay away.”

Something cold creeps into my chest.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

But she shakes her head.

“Not here,” she says quickly. “Not now.”

“I called my son that drives a taxi, he'll be here soon, he'll take you to a hotel so you can stay for awhile.’’

My fingers tighten around the bag.

I don’t want to take it.

Because taking it means accepting this.

Accepting that I really have nothing.

But my body—

My instincts—

Know better.

Slowly…

I nod.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

Her eyes soften.

“Be safe,” she says. “Please.”

I nod again.

And this time—

When I walk away—

I don’t feel completely empty.

Just… hollow.

The hotel room is small.

Nothing like what I’m used to.

But it’s quiet.

And for the first time since everything happened—

No one is watching me.

I sit on the edge of the bed, the coat still wrapped around me, the bag resting in my lap.

My fingers tighten around it.

And then

Slowly

I open it.

Inside

Sandwiches, some can foods, some clothes, a single pack of sanitary pads and a thin envelope of cash.

And something else.

A folded piece of paper.

My breath catches.

I stare at it for a moment.

Then,

Carefully,

I unfold it.

And what I see,

Makes my heart stop.

Across the city..

In the house that was never mine

They celebrate.

“Finally,” Mrs. Vale says, lifting her glass.

“To us.”

Mr. Vale smiles.

Cold. Satisfied.

“To the Laurent inheritance,” he corrects.

The name hangs in the air.

Heavy.

Important.

Adrian leans back slightly, his expression unreadable.

“It’s already done,” Mr. Vale continues. “All assets have been transferred. Every account. Every holding.”

Mrs. Vale’s lips curve.

“She has nothing,” she says softly.

Adrian doesn’t respond.

But he doesn’t deny it either.

“And she never will,” Mr. Vale adds.

A pause.

Then

Almost as an afterthought,

“She doesn’t even know who she is.”