The words hung in the air between us as my mother gasped, her hand flying to her chest in shock.

"Just get out of our house," my father said after a long, tense moment, lowering his hand, but his expression still twisted with fury. "You are not welcome here. Never step foot in this house again."

"I’ll gladly leave," I said. I didn’t know where the anger in me came from. I was so mad right now as I grabbed Jude’s hand and started walking toward the door because I was done. "I never had parents like you anyway."

"Sophia could never do this!" my mother’s voice rang out behind me in a lamenting tone.

I stopped walking. My entire body froze mid-step, and I felt something cold wash over me. I turned around slowly to face them again, and for the first time in my life, I looked at my parents with genuine disgust. Not fear, nor shame, nor the desperate need for their approval.

Pure disgust.

These people were horrible; they didn’t have even an ounce of empathy for their own children. They were the ones who had caused all the problems between me and Sophia in the first place. If they hadn’t played favorites, if they hadn’t created that toxic environment of jealousy, maybe Sophia wouldn’t turn out that way.

A humorless laugh escaped my lips because the absurdity of it all suddenly hit me. Why was I still even considering these people as my parents?

"Do you know what happened to Sophia?" I asked quietly. I watched my mother flinch and look away from my direct gaze.

"Get out of my house and never come back," she said quickly, her words tumbling over, deflecting.

"You knew," I breathed out as realization crashed over me. My head was ringing, buzzing with the horrible revelation. "You knew and you never believed her. You told her she was just seeking attention!"

God of mercy! I stared at them with absolute horror, my mind trying to fathom, trying to comprehend the kind of pain. Sophia must have gone through. Assaulted and then not believed by her own parents. No wonder she’d hated me so much. Maybe I really deserved all of it—all her anger, all her cruelty.

"Yes, we knew!" my mother screamed suddenly, her voice cracking, her eyes flashing wildly. "What were we supposed to do? Scream it out to the neighbors? Let everyone know? Do you want us to advertise the same? Her voice became shrill. "If she hadn’t gone out that night, it wouldn’t have happened!"

I stood there with my mouth literally hanging open because I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Could they even hear themselves? Could they hear the words coming out of their own mouths?

"Can you hear yourself?" I asked, and my voice was barely above a whisper now. "Your daughter was raped. You sowed hatred between your daughters. You lost a daughter. And this is what you’re saying?"

"What do you want me to say?" my mother shrieked. "It’s better to be childless than to have the stain on our reputation!" She took a step toward me, her finger pointed accusingly. "And mind you, if you hadn’t fallen sick that day, the incident wouldn’t have happened! She went out because she was left alone!”

I flinched because it felt like she had struck me hard across the face. They were actually blaming me for something I’d had absolutely no power over. For being sick.

“Then you shouldn’t have taken him to the hospital that night.” I mumbled, my body trembled, I felt nauseous suddenly, bile climbing up my throat, my stomach churning violently. I was looking at these people like I’d never seen them before, like they were complete strangers wearing the faces of my parents.

These people were horrible.

I grabbed Jude’s hand desperately and turned away from them, needing to get out of this house right now—I couldn’t stay in the same place with them.

The moment we stepped outside onto the porch, my knees gave out. I collapsed, and Jude caught me immediately, his strong arms wrapping around me, supporting my full weight as I doubled over.

I vomited everything I’d eaten earlier all over the front lawn. Everything came up in violent heaves while Jude held my hair back gently and rubbed soothing circles on my back. I couldn’t believe they had said those things. Couldn’t believe they had known what happened to Sophia and done nothing but keep quiet.

What must Sophia be feeling right now? Did she know that even in death, even after everything being the perfect, golden daughter, our parents didn’t care nor feel remorse?

God.

I couldn’t stomach them, and I wanted to slap myself for looking up to these people as parents when I was a child, for seeking their approval. "They’re horrible," I said. I could taste the disgusting sourness of vomit in my mouth. "They’re horrible people."

Jude quickly went to the car and came back with a bottle of water. He helped me rinse my mouth out and take small sips, his touch infinitely gentle, his eyes filled with concern and love.

"They have to pay," I murmured, clutching the front of Jude’s shirt with trembling fingers. "They have to pay for what they did for keeping silence.”

I glanced back at my childhood home one last time. At the house where I’d grown up. Everything I’d known growing up, every memory attached to this place, suddenly felt like it had been built on lies and toxicity. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“They aren’t my family.” Fuck them. Fuck their precious reputation that they valued more than their own daughters. Fuck their inability to show love or empathy or basic human decency.

They were never real parents to me. Maybe they had been once, before Sophia became the golden child and I became the disappointment.

"Sweetheart," Jude said softly, pulling me closer against his chest. "Look at me."

I lifted my head and met his eyes that were filled with understanding; it made tears spring to my eyes.

"Me and the baby," he said firmly, his hand moving to rest on my stomach. "We’re enough. We’re your family now. "You don’t need them, and you never needed them."

I nodded against his chest.

"Elena and Marcus," Jude continued, listing them off one by one. "Maya and River, the whole Winter pack—they are all your family now. You have so many people who love you, who see you for who you really are, who value you, and who accept you."

"I know," I sniffed.

I knew that I’d found my real family, the family I’d chosen and who had chosen me back. The family who would love me unconditionally, the family who accepted me as I was even being a human among them.

I pulled back from Jude’s embrace slightly and looked up into his face. "Thank you," I said. "For being here. For defending me. For being mine."

He cupped my face gently in both his large hands and used his thumbs to wipe away the tears still streaming down my cheeks. "Always, sweetheart. Always."

Then he kissed me softly. When we finally pulled apart, I took one last deep breath. "Can we go home now?" I asked.

"Yeah, sweetheart," Jude said, helping me stand fully and keeping his arm wrapped protectively around my waist as we walked back to the car. "Let’s go home. To our real family."

As we drove away from that house, away from those people who had never deserved to be called my parents, I felt something settle deep in my chest: peace and freedom. While I rested my hand on my baby bump, I would never let my baby grow up like I had. I’ll surround him with love and support from people who cherish us.

***

I really wanted to give Sophia a closure, no girl had to pass through that or rather no child but what she did to Rosie was horrible also. Well, karma is coming for their parents but it won’t be on screen. Off screen karma If you noticed anything not making sense, I was hal f asleep.. I don’t want to miss not updating today also. Thank you for reading.