He Lost Me When He Chose His Stepsister

I watched Bianca flounder in the pool, her arms thrashing wildly. She was screaming for help, but I stood there, frozen. Every inch of me wanted to leave her there, to let her drown. After everything she’d done to me, she deserved it. The lies, the manipulation, the way she’d tormented me… I had no reason to save her.

But I couldn’t.

Troy would never forgive me if I let her die. He’d never forgive me if I let something happen to her, no matter what she’d done. I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t risk him turning on me, not when I was already hanging by a thread.

With a deep breath, I stepped toward the pool’s edge and extended my hand. My voice was low, barely above a whisper. “Grab my hand, Bianca. I’ll help you.”

She grabbed it, but the moment her fingers brushed mine, I felt a sharp yank. Without warning, she pulled me into the water, her grip tight around my wrist.

I gasped as the cold water surrounded me, my body sinking deeper. Panic surged through me. I couldn’t swim. I was going under.

Bianca’s smug face appeared in front of me, her lips curling into a vicious smirk.

“How dare you try to hurt me?” she spat, her eyes gleaming with malicious satisfaction. “You thought you could drown me and get away with it?”

I struggled, fighting to keep my head above water, but Bianca only tightened her grip.

“My brother never dared hurt me,” she sneered. “And now you think you can? You think you’re better than me?”

I kicked my legs, but the weight of her words only made it harder to breathe. My chest tightened.

“You’ll drown before I do,” she taunted, laughing. “I know you’re the one who doesn’t know how to swim, Thalia. You’ll drown. Just like I wanted.”

She pushed me further down. The cold water engulfed me, my body sinking deeper into the darkness. I gasped, trying to get air, but there was nothing but water, swallowing me whole.

I felt my strength fading. My limbs grew heavy. The world around me spun, the surface so far away.

Suddenly, I heard a voice.

“Troy!”

It was Bianca, her voice sharp and frantic. “She tried to drown me! She pushed me in!”

I heard the sound of footsteps rushing toward the pool. Troy’s voice followed, full of disbelief. “What’s going on?!”

I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t even lift my head anymore. I felt myself slipping, my body too weak to keep afloat. The water in my lungs burned, but I couldn’t fight it anymore.

“She tried to drown me!” Bianca screamed again, her voice full of triumph. “She pushed me in. She wanted me dead. She wanted to get rid of me!”

I could hear Troy, now closer, his voice shaking with anger. “What? What the hell are you talking about?”

I heard the sound of him tending to Bianca, pulling her out of the water, wrapping her in a towel. Her voice was full of mock hurt as she demanded help.

“Help me! She tried to kill me!” Bianca cried, her voice dripping with fake tears. “I’m so scared.”

And me? I was still sinking, still drowning, my vision darkening. I was too far gone to scream, too far gone to reach out for help. They wouldn’t help me. They never did.

The last thing I heard before I lost consciousness was the sound of Troy murmuring to Bianca, his voice soft and soothing as he tended to her. Then everything went black.

When I woke up, I was in my bed. My body ached, and I felt as if I had a fever. The heat was unbearable. My throat was dry, burning with each shallow breath.

Troy sat beside me, his face twisted in anger. “What the hell did you do, Thalia?”

I blinked, trying to focus, but everything felt like it was moving too fast. I couldn’t make sense of his words at first.

“Trying to kill Bianca? She’s here to help you, to make friends with you,” he scolded, his tone sharp and accusing.

I swallowed hard, trying to force my voice out, but it was strained, like speaking was too much of an effort. “She ruined… my mother’s bracelet.”

Troy’s expression hardened, his lips curling in disgust. “It was just a bracelet, Thalia. Just a piece of jewelry. I can buy you a thousand more if you want, but it doesn’t matter. It’s not worth all of this. It’s not worth trying to drown Bianca!”

My chest tightened. My throat felt like it was closing up again, the weight of his words suffocating me.

“She ruined it. She stole it. She—”

Troy cut me off, his voice sharp. “Enough! I don’t want to hear any of this!”

I flinched at the force of his words, but he didn’t stop. “Just take a rest, Thalia. Tomorrow, you’ll apologize to my sister. And then I’ll take both of you somewhere nice, so you can make it up to each other. I will not tolerate this in my house again!”

I stared at him, my mind spinning. I couldn’t process it. I couldn’t believe it. I had nearly drowned. I had been close to losing everything—and for what? For something that didn’t even matter to him.

His footsteps echoed as he walked out of the room, leaving me in the suffocating silence.

I was alone again.

And I couldn’t hold back anymore. Tears spilled down my cheeks, my body shaking with the weight of it all.