His Billionaire's surrogate

Betrayal

I stood up from the table, my tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Aurora" I heard my sister call my name, but I didn't have the strength to turn back.

How could Crystal do this to me? How could she go behind my own back and fall in love with Asher, knowing full well I had feelings for him?

"What a joke," I muttered bitterly to myself, the pain in my heart too much to bear.

But before I could fully process my emotions, someone grabbed my shoulder, and I turned to see my mom glaring at me, her eyes filled with disappointment and anger.

Before I could utter a word, her hand came down hard, the sound of the slap echoing in the room. My eyes widened in shock. This was the first time my mom had ever raised her hand to strike me.

"Mom," I stuttered, feeling my heart shatter into a million pieces.

"How... how could you?"

"How dare you spoil your sister's welcome party!" she yelled, her voice filled with fury.

My heart sank even further, the weight of my mistake crushing me.

"Mom, that's enough!" Crystal's voice cut through the tension as she came up behind me, pulling our mom away gently. Her touch felt like a mix of comfort and betrayal, and I couldn't bring myself to meet her gaze.

"Can't you be happy for your sister just this once?" My father's voice added to the turmoil in the room, his disappointment palpable. It felt like the ground was crumbling beneath me, leaving my heart in even more pieces than before.

I wanted to speak up, to defend myself, but the words caught in my throat. How could I explain the ache in my chest, the betrayal I felt from the two people I loved most in this world?

"It's not her fault that Asher fell in love with your sister," my mom's voice pierced through the silence, her eyes still blazing with anger directed at me.

"So they knew," I whispered, my voice barely audible as I looked at Crystal, who couldn't meet my gaze, her eyes filled with guilt.

"So I'm the villain here," I continued, the tears flowing freely down my cheeks now. The realization that my own family saw me as the antagonist in this twisted tale tore me apart.

I had always known that my parents favored Crystal, but I never thought it would come to this. I never thought they would side with her even after she had stabbed me in the back.

I knew that I would never be loved like the way my parents loved my sister.

While Crystal followed the footsteps of my dad by becoming a neurosurgeon, my parents also wanted me to follow the footsteps of my mother.

But instead I became a model.

Modeling had been my escape, my way of finding happiness outside of their expectations. But now, even that seemed like a hollow victory in the face of their betrayal.

I can't believe that crystal will do this to me.

I can't believe the person I had loved all these years will stab me in the back. I didn't care if my parents loved Crystal more because I couldn't summon hatred towards her.

I would take a bullet for her , I would take a stab for her without thinking but I didn't know that the person that I would sacrifice my life for was the one holding the gun pointing it at me and stabbing me in the back.

As I ran out of the house, the cold night air offering little relief from the turmoil inside me, I felt my heart shatter into a million irreparable pieces.

I ran as far as my legs could carry me, the sound of my own ragged breath mixing with the pounding of my heart in my ears. Each step felt like a desperate attempt to outrun the pain tearing me apart inside.

I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't care. All I knew was that I had to escape, to find some solace from the suffocating weight of betrayal and heartbreak.