Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose novel Chapter 2

**Healing Slowly But Surely By R. Joseph**

**Chapter 2: Loss**

Leilani.

*Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.*

The relentless beeping of the heart monitor reverberated through the sterile air, pulling me sharply back into the grim reality surrounding me. I hastily wiped the tears that had been streaming down my cheeks with the back of my trembling hand, my heart aching as I caught the sound of my mother’s muffled sobs echoing from across the hallway.

A few rows away, my sister and mother huddled together, presenting an illusion of a loving family, while our older brother, Gavin, stood off to the side. His eyes were swollen and red-rimmed, a clear testament to his distress, yet he still managed to cast scornful glances in my direction, scoffing whenever our gazes unintentionally collided.

He hates me.

They all hate me.

I shouldn’t even be here…

“Doctor, how is she?!” My mother’s voice pierced the air, her panic propelling her to her feet as she rushed toward the woman clad in white scrubs who had just emerged from the ICU.

The doctor let out a heavy sigh, shaking her head slowly, her voice barely above a whisper. “She’s not good. Her condition is very bad. She may not survive this.”

Time seemed to freeze. The world around me spun wildly, and the sounds faded into an indistinct hum. Her words shattered the last fragments of hope I had clung to, and I staggered back until my back hit the cold wall behind me. A choked sob escaped my lips, a raw expression of despair.

Grandma was the only person in this family who truly loved me—at least, she tolerated my existence and stood by my side when everyone else seemed to turn against me. She didn’t deserve this.

“This is all your fault!” Gavin’s voice thundered through the air, and in an instant, my head snapped to the side as a sharp sting erupted across my cheek.

Tears welled up in my eyes as the realization of what had just happened hit me. He had slapped me, a familiar occurrence, and I already knew I would be blamed for everything once again.

As expected, he continued, “It’s your fault that Grandma is in this condition. If you hadn’t picked a fight with Chalice, none of this would have happened! She wouldn’t have been so hurt and stressed that her blood pressure skyrocketed!”

“But I didn’t…” I started to protest, but the look in his eyes silenced me. I bit down on my lip, swallowing my words. He never listens… why would he start now?

“If anything happens to her, I’ll make you pay. I promise you. I’ll kill you and feed your remains to the dogs before our father even returns from his trip!” His threats hung in the air like a dark cloud.

“Gavin, just ignore that reject,” my mother’s harsh words cut through the tension, sharper than any knife could ever be.

By the heavens, I should have been accustomed to their disdain by now. I should have grown numb to their scalding remarks and the quiet way I had been exiled from this family. But I wasn’t.

It still hurt like hell. My heart throbbed painfully each time they spoke to me with such malice.

Suddenly, the main doors swung open, and I was enveloped by the most intoxicating scents, the kind that brought a fleeting sense of comfort amidst the chaos.

From the corner of my eye, I caught Chalice’s discreet sneer, the way she reveled in my misfortune. She thrived on my suffering, and it was a well-known fact. What infuriated me the most was how no one else seemed to see through her ‘too perfect’ facade.

But something about her smugness ignited a fire within me, and in a moment of rage, I straightened my posture, met my mother’s gaze with defiance, and opened my mouth to speak. But before I could utter a word, the doctor burst through the ICU doors again.

This time, her expression was graver than before, and she wasted no time with pleasantries. “We’ve lost her. Grandma Aurora is dead.”

Those seven simple words turned my world upside down. The ground beneath me felt as if it had vanished, and I stumbled backward, crashing to the floor. A heart-wrenching cry tore from my throat as my tears blurred my vision.

My grandmother is gone.

The only family member who had ever shown me love, the unwavering force of kindness in my life, was no longer with me.

The pain surged through me, so intense that I feared I might lose consciousness. I groaned, clutching my chest as if trying to contain the agony, but it was an exercise in futility.

There was no escaping this torment. The raw, unrelenting pain. This immense loss.

And just then, the main doors burst open once more, and my father stormed in, exuding the aura of the Beta he was, and the boogeyman he had always been to me.

“Leilani!” he snarled, and in that instant, I knew that hell was about to break loose.