Chapter 7 No Choice
Rebecca stood in the doorway, her chest rising and falling with ragged breaths, her eyes red-rimmed yet burning with a fierceness Vanessa had never seen before. The hallway light spilled across both of them, illuminating the tension and thickening the air like smoke.
Vanessa’s smile faltered. “Becca… sweetheart, what’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that? Are you okay? Do you need anything——”
“Stop.” Rebecca’s voice was low, and trembling, but not with fear. It was trembling with anger. “Just stop pretending to care,” she said, trying to control her anger.
Vanessa blinked, taken aback. “Pretending? Rebecca, what are you talking about?”
Rebecca let out a humorless laugh, shaking her head as though she couldn’t believe Vanessa was still playing dumb. “You know exactly what I’m talking about,” she said bitterly. “But you’re so good at pretending innocence, aren’t you? Honestly, Vanessa… you should join opera. You’d be their star performer.”
Vanessa’s lips parted. “Opera?” She frowned, managing to pull off a perfectly calculated look of confusion. “Rebecca, why are you saying such things? What do you mean?”
“Why are you still talking to Liam?” she asked, taking Vanessa aback.
Why was she suddenly asking her about Liam? Vanessa thought with a frown. “What do you mean? You know he's my friend. He's been friends with me even before you both had a thing.”
“I see. So aren't you supposed to side me and cut ties with him since I broke things off with him? Instead, you sided with him, didn't you? Why?” Rebecca smirked, looking at Vanessa as she cracked her brain for a reply.
“You hurt him so why should I leave him? Besides, you're fine but the poor man is still heartbroken you cheated on—”
“Get out,” Rebecca whispered, eyes cold and unblinking.
How could she not have seen Vanessa for who she was?
Vanessa stiffened at that. “What?”
Had she heard Rebecca properly? Does she know something?
“I said get out.” Rebecca’s voice rose, sharp as shattered glass. “And make sure you don’t ever show that pretentious face of yours in front of me again.”
Before Vanessa could respond, Rebecca slammed the door, hard in her face. The sound echoed down the hall, vibrating through the silence.
For a long moment, Vanessa simply stood there, staring at the door as though it might open again. Her jaw hung slightly open. Rebecca had never ever spoken to her like that or even dared to slam the door in her face that way.
“What the hell…?” Vanessa muttered under her breath.
She lifted one hand to her chest, steadying her breathing. Confusion flickered across her features. Then suspicion. Rebecca had been a mess at the hospital, yes, but this was different. This wasn’t grief alone. This wasn’t just emotional overload.
This seemed like something personal. What happened? What changed? Why was Rebecca being hostile towards her all of a sudden especially since the death of their parents?
Did she know?
Vanessa replayed the scene. Rebecca’s eyes. The hostility. The bite in her voice. The sudden refusal to even look at her.
“How would she know anything?” Vanessa murmured, pacing a small circle in front of the door. “She and Liam had always been careful so how could she know and why now?”
Rebecca had withdrawn into silence since after their parents died. She hadn’t spoken to her, hadn’t confided in her, hadn’t even looked at her properly. It was almost as if she was… afraid? Or disgusted?
Vanessa folded her arms across her chest as realization slowly threaded through her mind.
Rebecca wasn’t being emotional.
She was being hostile.
And people were hostile when they had a reason.
Unless Rebecca simply hated her which was impossible because there was no reason. Something else was fueling this anger. Something Vanessa wasn’t aware of.
Her nails dug into her arms. “That little brat is hiding something,” she whispered. “But what?”
A cold wind drifted down the hallway, brushing her skin. A strange, unsettling quiet settled around her as she stood there, staring at the door Rebecca had slammed.
Then, without warning, Vanessa’s expression shifted.
Her eyes narrowed.
Her lips curved into a slow, sinister smile.
A dark, clever, delicious thought slipped into her mind, sending a thrill through her chest. “Of course,” she murmured, the corners of her mouth lifting even higher. “If she won’t talk to me… then I’ll just find another way to learn everything.”
Her smile widened, sharp enough to cut.
“Oh, Rebecca," she whispered under her breath, leaning in close to the door as though Rebecca could somehow hear her through the wood. “You have no idea what you’ve just done.”
Without wasting any more time, Vanessa turned around and left, bringing out her phone to put her plans in motion.
She didn't want to go this far. Rebecca had just left her with no choice.