Chapter 7: Shattered By Bloodline
1015 Words
Melanie decided to try her luck with her father again after much thought .
The house stood exactly the way she remembered it.
Cold.
Quiet.
Too perfect on the outside.
Melanie hesitated for a moment in front of the gate, her fingers tightening around the strap of her bag. This was not a place she came to willingly anymore.
Only when there was no other option.
She took a breath and stepped inside.
The living room was bright, polished, and carefully arranged to look welcoming. But nothing about it felt warm.
Her stepmother, Isabella sat down on the sofa comfortably glaring at her.
Beside her, Camilla looked up immediately the moment Melanie entered.
A slow smile spread across her face.
“Well, well,” Camilla said. “Look who decided to come back.”
Melanie didn’t respond.
She turned her attention forward.
“Where is Father?”
Isabella finally looked up, her expression uninterested.
“In his study,” she replied. “But I doubt he’ll want to see you.”
Melanie swallowed.
“I need to speak to him.”
Camilla stood up, walking closer with slow, deliberate steps.
“Let me guess,” she said softly. “Money again?”
Melanie’s silence was enough answer.
Camilla laughed lightly.
“You really never get tired of embarrassing yourself, do you?”
Melanie ignored her and walked past them.
Every step toward the study felt heavier.
When she reached the door, she paused.
Then knocked.
“Enter.”
Her father’s voice was deep, firm… unchanged.
She opened the door.
Giovanni Hart sat behind his desk, not even looking up at first.
“What do you want?”
Melanie stepped forward slowly.
“I need help,” she said quietly. “It’s for Mother’s hospital bills. The payment deadline—”
“I already know,” he interrupted.
Silence.
Finally, he looked up.
His expression was cold.
Tired.
Distant in a way that made her feel like a stranger in her own home.
“She should have accepted reality years ago,” Giovanni said flatly.
Melanie frowned slightly.
“Father…”
“She chose stubbornness over stability,” he continued. “She refused to stay in a marriage that could have secured this family’s future.”
Melanie’s hands curled slightly.
“That has nothing to do with this.”
“It has everything to do with this,” he snapped.
A pause.
Then his gaze hardened.
“She couldn’t even give me a son,” he said coldly. “And yet she left, acting like she had pride.”
Melanie went still.
The words didn’t land like they used to.
They cut deeper.
Because this time… she didn’t come as a child asking for attention.
She came asking for help.
And still, it wasn’t given.
“I’m not here for that,” she said quietly. “I just need money for her treatment.”
Giovanni leaned back in his chair.
“And why should I keep paying for a woman who chose this path herself?”
Melanie’s breath caught slightly.
“Because she’s your wife.”
A dry laugh left him.
“Was,” he corrected.
Silence.
Heavy.
Final.
---
Giovanni stood slowly.
“I won’t be involved anymore,” he said. “If she is still in that hospital, it’s on you.”
Melanie’s voice lowered.
“She is your responsibility too.”
He looked at her then.
For a long moment.
Cold.
Unmoved.
Then—
“No,” he said simply. “She stopped being my responsibility when she chose to leave.”
Silence fell again.
And Melanie stood there, feeling something inside her tighten painfully.
Not anger.
Not surprise.
Just… acceptance of something she had refused to accept for too long.
From the doorway, Camilla appeared first, leaning casually.
“Still begging?” she asked mockingly. “Honestly, it’s embarrassing at this point, “You really don’t learn, Melanie.”
Isabella joined her, smiling faintly.
“It’s almost impressive,” she added. “The level of desperation.”
Isabella followed behind her.
Her heels clicked softly against the floor as she stepped into the room.
Her eyes landed on Melanie like she was something unpleasant.
“So this is what you’ve reduced yourself to,” Isabella said calmly. “Running back here every time life gets too hard.”
Melanie stayed silent.
Isabella tilted her head slightly.
“You’ve always been a disappointment,” she added softly.
That was the moment the room changed.
Melanie looked at her.
Just once.
Then stepped forward.
“You don’t get to talk about her like that,”
you're just a useless slut that destroyed a once loving family.
Melanie said quietly.
Isabella raised a brow.
“Oh?”
A faint smirk formed on her lips.
“And what exactly are you going to do about it?”
The sound came fast.
Sharp.
A slap.
It echoed through the room.
Camilla gasped.
Giovanni stood slightly from his chair.
Isabella’s face turned slowly back toward Melanie.
A red mark forming on her cheek.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then Isabella smiled.
Cold.
Slow.
Almost amused.
“You really are her daughter,” she said quietly.
Melanie didn’t move.
Didn’t speak.
Just stood there, breathing unevenly, realization settling in her chest at what she had just done.
Giovanni’s voice cut through the room.
“Enough.”
He stood fully now, expression hard.
“This is exactly why she left this family,” he said coldly. “Drama. Disrespect. Weakness.”
Melanie flinched slightly at the words.
Not because they were new.
But because they were final.
Isabella adjusted her hair calmly, as if nothing had happened.
Camilla still stared, stunned but entertained.
Melanie slowly stepped back.
She had come here for help.
But she was leaving with something else.
Nothing.
She turned toward the door.
No more words.
No more begging.
Just silence behind her.
As she stepped out of the house, the air outside felt colder than before.
She stood still for a moment.
Then tightened her grip on her bag.
And walked away without looking back.
- Writer
