The Family Group Chat Without Me, The Truth They Hid Chapter 03

The Family Group Chat Without Me, The Truth They Hid Chapter 03

I packed everything I owned.

Before leaving Wrenford, I decided to stop by Wrenford Memorial Hospital and say goodbye to Stellan’s mother in person.

For years, all she had wanted was to see Stellan and me get married. After she got sick, she relied on me more and more, and somewhere along the way, I’d started thinking of her as my own mother.

I was about to knock on her hospital room door when a familiar voice stopped me cold.

“You’re really good at this. You make being sick look completely real.”

“Cyra still has no idea you always had one of your ‘episodes’ right before her biggest competitions. It was the perfect way to get her out of the way so Miri had a better shot at winning.”

Mrs. Roarke laughed.

“That girl is unbelievably gullible. All I ever said was that I hoped she and Stellan would get married someday, and suddenly she started treating me like family.”

“I’ve been fine for ages. But if pretending to be sick gave Miri and Stellan more time alone, I’d say it was worth it.”

I stood frozen outside the door.

Then I looked toward the corner of the room.

Stellan and Mirelle were kissing.

My ears rang. The room seemed to tilt beneath me.

My knees gave out, and I stumbled forward, knocking the door open.

Every voice inside stopped.

Before I could steady myself, someone yanked me backward, slamming my lower back against the door handle right where I’d been injured before.

Pain exploded through me.

Blood soaked through my clothes, and my vision went dark around the edges.

When I could focus again, Tamsin was right in front of me, furious.

“Cyra Bellmont, how much longer are you going to keep this up? If you hadn’t used what you did for Stellan’s family to guilt him into being with you, he and Miri wouldn’t have had to sneak around all this time!”

“You’ve seen them now, so fine. We’re done hiding it. Stellan and Miri have been together behind your back for a long time.”

“They’re the ones who actually love each other. Have some self-respect and stop clinging to him.”

She sounded so righteous that anyone listening might have thought I was the one who had done something wrong.

I opened my mouth and took one step forward.

Mom rushed over and grabbed my arm.

“If you’re angry, take it out on us. Don’t you dare go after Miri!”

“You’ve spent your whole life taking things from other people. So someone took something from you for once. Big deal.”

“Besides, Stellan chose this. He’s happier with her.”

Even Mrs. Roarke sighed.

“Cyra… can’t you just let Stellan go?”

I turned to him.

His face had gone pale.

He took a step toward me, clearly about to say something.

Then Mirelle suddenly pressed a hand to her chest.

“Oh…”

Stellan looked at her immediately and turned to support her.

The others immediately stepped between us, forming a protective wall around Mirelle.

For a long moment, I forced every bit of strength I had into my throat.

At last, one rough, broken word came out.

“…Fine.”

Stellan’s head snapped up.

I didn’t look at him again.

I turned and walked away.

For one second, the room behind me went completely silent.

Then everyone started talking at once.

I heard Stellan shout something in disbelief, but the others immediately stopped him.

“Leave her alone! She can’t even talk. She’s not a threat to Miri anymore, so stop worrying about what she’ll say!”

“Stellan, calm down! Miri doesn’t feel well. Can’t you see that?”

The second I stepped outside the hospital, my phone started vibrating nonstop.

Message after message from Tamsin filled the screen.

[Maybe this is for the best. Everyone can see how Stellan feels about Miri.]

[He never showed up to a single one of your competitions, but he never missed hers.]

[And all those times he ordered food you were allergic to? He knew. Miri liked those dishes, and he wanted to make her happy.]

[That ring he gave you was a size too big because it was one Miri didn’t want.]

[We kept all of this from you because we were scared you’d hurt Miri. Turns out she was the one suffering this whole time.]

I stared at the messages.

Suddenly, even the air in Wrenford made me sick.

Whatever hope I still had left finally died.

I took a deep breath and headed straight for the airport without a shred of hesitation.