Chapter 4

Blake Poole POV:

Gabriela's triumphant declaration hung in the air, thick with malice. She expected a reaction, a scream, a breakdown. But I gave her nothing. My face remained impassive, a blank canvas reflecting none of the turmoil churning inside me. The cancer had stripped away my capacity for sustained anger, leaving behind a profound weariness. There was no point in fighting for something I would soon leave behind.

Her triumphant smile faltered, replaced by a flicker of confusion, then irritation. My lack of reaction seemed to frustrate her more than any outburst. She stamped her foot impatiently. "Mrs. Davis!" she snapped, turning to the housekeeper who stood nearby, wringing her hands nervously. "Bring down the box from the attic. The wedding dress."

Mrs. Davis, her eyes wide with apprehension, scurried away. My heart hammered against my ribs. Was Gabriela actually going to show me? To parade it in front of me, rubbing it in?

Moments later, Mrs. Davis returned, cradling a large, pristine white box tied with a satin ribbon. My mother's wedding dress. My breath caught in my throat. It was actually here. The last tangible piece of her.

Gabriela snatched the box from Mrs. Davis, her eyes gleaming with cruel joy. She threw it carelessly onto the polished mahogany table, the ribbon untying, the lid coming slightly ajar. "See, Blake?" she purred, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "It's beautiful, isn't it? And it's all mine."

And then, with a sickeningly deliberate slowness, she reached into the box and produced a small, ornate silver locket. My mother's locket. The one Brandt had been holding earlier. The one with a tiny etched ballerina on the front. She held it up, dangling it by its delicate chain, a smirk on her face.

"Oh, and this too," she said, her voice a taunt. "Ford gave it to me. Said it was time it went to someone who truly appreciated its significance. Someone who wasn't a constant disappointment."

My vision blurred. Not the dress. Anything but the locket. That locket... it was the last thing Mom had given me before she died. A symbol of my dreams, of her unwavering belief in me. It was precious. Sacred.

Gabriela saw the tremor in my hands, the slight widening of my eyes, and her smile widened, a true, venomous grin. "Oh, Blake," she cooed, her eyes alight with malice. "Did you want this little trinket? Too bad."

And then, with a flick of her wrist, she opened the locket, revealing the tiny, faded photo of my mother and me, taken on my fifth birthday. She held it up, displaying it for a moment, before deliberately, painstakingly, she brought her thumb down on the miniature image, crushing it, tearing the delicate paper. Then, with a practiced grace, she popped the locket open again, revealing the now mangled photo.

A gasp tore from my throat. It was a physical blow, worse than any kick. My mother's face, now scarred and ruined. My childhood smile, ripped apart. It was a violation. A desecration.

"Oops," Gabriela said, her eyes gleaming with utter triumph. "So clumsy of me. Just like everything else you touch, Blake. Always broken." She then let the locket drop, clattering to the floor.

"You bitch," I whispered, the words raw, tearing from my throat. It was an involuntary sound, a primal cry of pain.

Gabriela's laughter filled the room, cold and sharp. "Oh, Blake. Still so dramatic. Just like your mother, always so delicate, always so... easily broken." Her eyes, now blazing with triumph, met mine. "She was weak, Blake. Just like you. And you know what else? She deserved what she got. And so do you. I wish you would just drop dead, you pathetic excuse for a human being!"

The words hit me like a physical force, tearing through the last vestiges of my control. My mother. She had cursed my mother. And wished death upon me, the very fate that was already closing in. A searing pain erupted in my abdomen, worse than any I had felt in days. It was a white-hot agony, an internal scream. My vision swam.

I lunged. It was an instinct, a pure, unadulterated surge of rage. My hand connected with her face, a stinging slap, the sound echoing in the silent room.

Gabriela stumbled back, her hand flying to her cheek, her eyes wide with shock. For a split second, a look of genuine fear flashed across her face. Then, it morphed into something else, something terrifyingly cunning. She let out a piercing shriek, a sound designed to draw attention, to manipulate. Her hand, still covering her cheek, subtly shifted. I saw the glint of something metallic in her palm, too late.

She plunged it into her own arm, a quick, brutal motion, a small, controlled cut. Blood welled up, bright crimson against her pale skin. Then, with a dramatic gasp and a wide, terrified stare, she crumpled to the floor, her eyes rolling back into her head. "Blake... you... you stabbed me..." she whispered, her voice barely audible, before her eyes fluttered shut.

"Gabriela!" A roar, and then a blur of motion. Corey. He appeared as if from nowhere, his face a mask of horror. He saw Gabriela on the floor, the blood, and then me, standing over her, my hand still tingling from the slap. His eyes, once again, filled with that familiar, hateful rage.

He shoved me, hard. I stumbled backward, hitting the wall with a sickening thud. "You psychotic bitch!" he snarled, his words laced with venom. "I knew it! I knew you hadn't changed! You truly are a maniac!"

My head spun. The pain in my stomach intensified, a burning inferno. I tried to speak, to explain, but the words were lodged in my throat, choked by the injustice, the overwhelming despair.

Gabriela, ever the actress, stirred. She moaned softly, her eyes fluttering open, focusing on Corey with a look of feigned vulnerability. "Corey... she... she just went crazy... I only wanted to show her the dress..." she whispered, her voice weak, tearful, entirely convincing. She then dramatically convulsed once, her eyes rolling into the back of her head, and collapsed again. A perfect fainting spell.

Corey gathered her into his arms, his eyes blazing with protective fury. He looked at me, his gaze dripping with disgust. "Get out, Blake. Just get out. I wish you had never come back."

The words were a final, crushing blow. They echoed the same sentiment my father had uttered three years ago. The pain in my stomach now radiated through my entire body, a dull, insistent throb that threatened to consume me. My vision tunneled.

Then, more footsteps. Father. Brandt. They stood at the entrance of the living room, their faces etched with shock and anger as they took in the tableau: Gabriela, pale and bleeding in Corey's arms, and me, standing alone, pressed against the wall, a pariah.

"What has she done now?" Ford's voice was a low growl, devoid of any paternal warmth. His eyes, cold and condemning, pierced through me.

Brandt, ever the observant one, saw the blood on Gabriela's arm, then my trembling hands, my pale face. His jaw tightened. "She's still the same, Dad. A loose cannon. A danger to everyone around her."

My father strode towards me, his face a mask of disappointment, a familiar emotion that had been my constant companion for years. "I knew this was a mistake. I knew inviting you back would only bring chaos." He shook his head, his voice heavy with contempt. "You are truly a disappointment, Blake. A complete and utter failure."

The words hit me. Disappointment. Failure. Scars from a lifetime of hearing those exact phrases. They had always blamed me. Always. For Mom's death, for my rebellious phase, for Gabriela's manufactured crises. I was the convenient scapegoat, the designated villain in their perfect family drama.

A profound, soul-crushing despair settled over me. It was over. The last shred of hope, the desperate, unspoken wish that they might, just might, see the truth, crumbled to dust. I was truly alone.

Then, a sudden, violent cough tore through me. It wasn't the dry, rasping cough of before. This was deep, guttural, ripping through my chest, forcing me to double over. A searing pain erupted in my stomach, a tidal wave of agony that stole my breath. My knees buckled. I closed my eyes, trying to fight it, but it was too strong. I felt a warm, metallic gush in my mouth.

When I straightened, my hand instinctively flying to my lips, I saw it. Bright red. Blood. Streaking down my chin, dripping onto the pristine marble floor. A torrent of it. My body convulsed, another violent cough, and more blood splattered onto the floor, a gruesome, undeniable confession.

The room fell silent. Corey, cradling Gabriela, froze. Ford's face, usually so composed, went slack with shock. Brandt's eyes, wide with disbelief, stared at the blood, then at me.

"Blake?" Brandt's voice was a choked whisper, a raw sound of dawning horror.

"What... what is that?" Corey stammered, his eyes darting between me and the blood.

My father, Ford, simply stood there, an uncomprehending look on his face.

The world spun. My legs gave out. I slid down the wall, clutching my stomach, the pain a screaming inferno. My clothes were soaked, sticky with my own lifeblood. I looked at their faces, their shock, their dawning comprehension.

"You always blame me," I gasped, the words bubbling out with another gush of blood, thick and viscous. "Always. For everything." My voice was barely a whisper, ragged and broken. "I was just a child. A child who lost her mother. And you blamed me."

My eyes flickered to Gabriela, who was now staring at me, her feigned unconsciousness forgotten, replaced by genuine terror. Then back to Corey, his face pale, his arms still instinctively holding Gabriela, but his gaze now fixed on my bleeding, dying form.

"She... she staged it all," I whispered, the words a dying confession, a last desperate attempt at truth. My breath was coming in ragged gasps. "The kidnapping... the lies... she took everything."

I saw the confusion, the dawning horror, the flicker of doubt in their eyes. But it was too late. So much too late.

"You called me crazy," I choked out, another cough wracking my body, more blood spilling. "A maniac. But I was just... dying."

Then, a wave of profound weakness washed over me. My eyes lost focus. The faces of my father, my brother, Corey, blurred into indistinct shapes. The pain was too great. The exhaustion, total.

"I'm not the monster," I whispered, the words barely audible, my gaze now fixed on the ceiling, searching for an escape. "I'm the scapegoat." A bitter, broken laugh escaped my lips, choked by the blood and pain. "But you'll never believe me. You never did."

My head lolled to the side. The world went black. I felt myself falling, falling into a profound, suffocating darkness, the sounds of their dawning horror fading into a distant hum.