Love in the Eye of the Storm

Chapter 13

Chelsea was almost two months pregnant. I knew Alexander had known her for a while, but two months ago, we were still so in love. He treated me like I was the center of his world. I never realized that while he whispered sweet nothings to me, he was already sleeping with her, and now, she was carrying his child.

The night I caught them almost kissing in the private room was the first time I truly felt disappointment. When Chelsea moved into our house, I knew something was off, but learning she was pregnant? That hit different.

It hurt.

Suddenly, I couldn't tell if Alexander had ever really loved me or if it had all been a lie. The emotions overwhelmed me, and the pain in my chest started to swallow me whole. Every breath felt like agony, as if someone was squeezing the life out of me.

But I wasn't about to break down in front of Chelsea and her mother. I forced a cold smile.

"So, you're proud of yourself for getting knocked up by a married man? That's some achievement," I said, shaking my head. "Chelsea, Ms. Harris, you two are a disgrace, ruining someone's family like it's nothing. There's no way you'll have a happy ending. Now get out."

"You'll be the one without a happy ending!" Ms. Harris snapped, jumping up like a madwoman.

She pointed a finger at me, her voice dripping with venom. "You and your brother Daniel were doomed from the start. You're both short-lived, just like him!"

That was it.

"You will not talk about my brother like that!" My voice was ice-cold.

Her words didn't sting as much when she insulted me, but bringing up Daniel, especially after he'd been gone for so long, was too much.

My face hardened. "If it weren't for Daniel, your daughter would've died when she was eight. He gave his life to save hers."

Ms. Harris sneered, spitting on the ground. "He was a firefighter. Saving people was his job. Even if he hadn't saved Chelsea, someone else would've."

Chelsea raised her chin arrogantly. "I'm not going to be guilt-tripped. I never asked for any of that."

There they were, these two women, so unapologetically shameless. I didn't need them to mourn my brother or even acknowledge him. But the way they so casually dismissed his sacrifice... I couldn't wrap my head around it. And to think that Chelsea, the little girl he died saving, would one day desecrate his grave.

I glanced at Daniel's urn on the table, my heart aching.

Daniel, I thought silently, if you knew how this would turn out, would you still have saved her?