Chapter 55 Everything
ISABEL'S POV
“Isabel darling, where are you off to now?” my mom’s voice called out just as I reached the last step of the staircase.
I was already irritated, and hearing her voice only made it worse. I didn’t want to answer. I didn’t want a conversation. I didn’t want questions. All I wanted was to leave this house before my mood got any uglier than it already was. Still, I forced myself to stop and turn around, pasting a small grin on my face.
“To see a friend,” I said casually, like nothing was wrong. Without waiting for her reply, I turned back and continued toward the door.
“Hold on, Isabel.”
I rolled my eyes the moment she said my name again. Of course. I didn’t even need to look back to know she was already walking toward me. I paused, counted to two in my head, then turned around slowly.
“Yes, mom?” I asked, keeping my voice polite even though my patience was wearing thin.
“We haven’t really had the chance to talk as a family,” she began. “This wasn’t how I imagined things when we heard you were coming back. You know your sister opened her new company yesterday, and as her only sister you didn’t even show up to support her. She’s upstairs now. Don’t you think you have something to say to her?”
I let out a small groan before I could stop myself. Of course this was about Anna. Everything was always about Anna now.
“I don’t want to talk about this right now,” I said, my tone tightening despite my effort to stay calm. “I really don’t, because things might get heated. I need to see my friend, and I don’t want her to see me in a bad mood.”
Before she could say anything else, I turned around and walked away, this time picking up my pace. I wasn’t about to let her call me back again. I reached the door, grabbed my keys, and stepped outside without looking back.
If she thought I was being rude just now, then she really hadn’t seen anything yet.
From the very beginning, I had made myself clear. I warned everyone in that house that if they betrayed me by handing over what was supposed to be mine to Anna, there would be no peace as long as I was around. I didn’t hide it. I didn’t sugarcoat it. And yet, they still went ahead and ignored me.
Why?
Because I wasn’t their biological daughter. That was the truth they never wanted to say out loud.
And now my mom had the audacity to stop me and talk about “family,” as if nothing had happened. As if they hadn’t crossed a line that could never be erased. As if they hadn’t chosen sides so clearly.
I stepped into my car and slammed the door shut harder than necessary. The silence inside the car did nothing to calm me down.
Anna opened her own company yesterday. Her own pharmaceutical company. So tell me, what exactly was the point of giving her a company that was meant to be mine in the first place? If she already had plans to open something on her own, then why take what belonged to me and hand it to her on a silver platter?
And somehow, I was still the problem.
Mom still thought I was the one who needed to say something. Me. As if I was the one who needed to apologize or explain myself.
They didn’t even want to acknowledge the fact that they were wrong. Instead, they pretended everything was fine and expected me to smile and play the role of the supportive sister.
“Anna is the biological daughter, so she gets two companies or more,” I muttered to myself, sarcasm dripping from my voice. “While the daughter they’ve known all their lives gets none.”
Ever since Anna walked into this family, every single thing I had ever feared started coming true.
She was taking everything.
The attention.
The praise.
The opportunities.
The people.
Everything that was meant to be mine.
I gave her time. I warned her. I even tried to be patient, hoping she would come to her senses and stop crossing lines that didn’t belong to her. But she didn’t listen. She thought I was joking. She thought I was bluffing.
I knew she crossed the final line when she went after my man.
Ryan.
Whatever spell she had cast on him, whatever tricks she was using, it was working. He barely noticed me anymore, barely looked at me. And I wasn’t stupid. I could feel the shift. I could see it.
And I wasn’t going to take that lying down.
Back at the ceremony, I wasn’t even supposed to attend. I didn’t want to go. But Ryan wanted to, and I forced myself to follow him, even though every part of me dreaded being there. Still, I didn’t regret it.
That night opened my eyes.
That was the day I realized I wasn’t the only person Anna had managed to make an enemy of.
And honestly, that didn’t surprise me at all.
If she was truly as innocent and angelic as she pretended to be, then why were there people out there who hated her so deeply? Why were there people who looked at her with so much resentment?
People don’t just hate for no reason.
I knew it. I had always known it. Anna wasn’t who she pretended to be, and sooner or later, the mask would slip. I just needed the right opportunity to pull it off myself.
And I was going to expose her. No matter the cost.
After the ceremony, I made sure to do my homework. I wasn’t careless. I paid attention. I asked questions. And eventually, I got the name of the woman Anna had been arguing with that night.
It didn’t take long to dig deeper.
Turns out, they had history. A deep one. The kind of history that doesn’t fade with time. The kind that leaves scars.
And the woman hated Anna just as much as I did.
I couldn’t help the small smile that curved my lips as I started the engine. The saying played over and over in my head, clear as day.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
This wasn’t a coincidence. This was an opportunity. And I wasn’t about to waste it.
If Anna thought she could walk into my life, take what belonged to me, and walk away untouched, then she was gravely mistaken. I had been quiet long enough. I had watched long enough.
Now it was my turn.
I pulled out of the driveway, my grip firm on the steering wheel, my mind already set on what was about to happen next.
I was going to meet her.
And together, we were going to talk.