Just as He Abandoned Me

Every word Ryker said was so clear, so piercing.

They had all hidden the truth of my mother's death from me. Even Ryker, the man I had once trusted with my life.

That year, I’d rushed to the police station in the pouring rain, demanding they investigate. Ryker had gotten into a serious car accident chasing me. He’d crawled from the wreckage, grabbing my ankle with a bloody, mangled hand. "Aria, come home. Leave this to me."

I’d been naive enough to believe he would find justice for me, because I knew in my bones my mother would never have taken her own life. But my hope had curdled into despair. My father and my husband—the two men I should have been able to trust—had conspired to betray me.

The next day, I showed up at the opening of Chloe’s exhibition, my torn coat wrapped around me.

Chloe was clinging to Ryker’s arm, proudly showing guests the grand exhibition he’d thrown for her, playing the part of the real Mrs. Blackwood.

The moment I walked in, all eyes swiveled to me, expressions shifting to contempt and ridicule.

Ryker looked relaxed, expecting me to fold as usual. He even opened his arms.

"Ryker, Chloe killed my mother, didn't she? And you were her accomplice."

His breath caught, a flicker of guilt in his eyes that vanished as quickly as it appeared. "This is an important day for Chloe. Don't make a scene."

My father rushed over, his hand cracking across my face in a sharp slap.

The silent warning in both their eyes told me everything. The recording was real.

Chloe rushed over, tears streaming down her face, the very picture of wronged innocence. "Aria, I know Mary hated me, but now we only have each other. Please, stop hurting me… I can forgive everything you did to me before. I'll be good."

As she spoke, she deliberately pulled up her sleeve, revealing a latticework of old scars on her arm.

At the sight, Ryker’s brow furrowed with concern. The look he shot me was filled with raw disappointment. "Aria, she's your sister! How could you do this to her?!"

A wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd.

"So it was her mother who attacked Chloe and fell by accident? Serves her right."

"I never thought Aria could be so vicious. Framing her own sister for attention. These neglected wives are always so desperate."

"Like mother, like daughter. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." "What do you expect? It's her low-class breeding."

Insults rained down. The bloody image of my mother's body flashed in my mind. I couldn't take it anymore. The next thing I knew, my hands were clamped around Chloe’s throat.

"I'm going to kill you!"

Chloe clawed at my hands, her face turning purple. The next second, a powerful force yanked me away.

Ryker’s hand cracked across my face without a second thought. He leaned in, his voice dropping to a low, intimate whisper that carried the cruelest of threats, "Clarify, right now, that you were lying. That you and your mother were the ones abusing Chloe. Or else…"

He paused, his lips almost brushing my ear.

"Or else I’ll have someone at the museum slash your mother's painting, 'The First Light'. Today is the anniversary of her death, isn't it?"