Silence hung heavy in the air as Stella's fingers clenched around her phone. Ansel's voice echoed in her ear, his words filled with concern, but they rang hollow. She could hear the anxiety in his tone, the feigned surprise at her sudden change of plans. "Stella, what's wrong? Are you upset?" He asked, his voice wavering slightly. "Where are you? I'll come pick you up right now!"
Stella's heart ached at the familiar sound of his voice, the voice that had once been her solace. Now it was a reminder of the betrayal that cut deeper than any knife. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before responding. "I'm at home. I don't want to go to the park today."
There was a brief pause, the air thick with unspoken words and the weight of secrets. Ansel's response was swift, his tone soothing. "Alright, I'll come home right away to be with you." He didn't question why she had canceled, didn't press for more details. It wasn't because his love for her was so profound that he could overlook her whims. It was because he had already achieved his goal, proposing to Elara in the setting he had so carefully orchestrated.
Stella's mind raced as she paced the living room, her footsteps echoing off the walls. She could visualize Ansel's face, the earnestness in his eyes as he knelt before Elara, the very image of the proposal she had dreamed of. But it was all a lie, a carefully constructed facade that crumbled with every step she took away from the park.
As Ansel walked in, Stella was just coming out of the bathroom, her face pale, her eyes rimmed with red from the tears she had fought so hard to hold back. Seeing Elara behind him, her heart sank further. She couldn't help but frown, her voice cold and warning. "Why did you bring her here?" she asked, her gaze never leaving Ansel's.
Was he really so eager to rub her face in it, to parade his betrayal right in front of her? Ansel, looking a bit guilty, rubbed his nose, his eyes darting between Stella and Elara. "Stella, I ran into Elara downstairs and found out she lives in our neighborhood. She heard you were at Solaria and insisted on coming up to apologize..."
Stella's eyes narrowed, her heart pounding in her chest as she watched him. She could see the guilt written all over his face, the way his eyes shifted, the way he fidgeted with his hands. "Stella, my mom and I were in the wrong back then. I'm apologizing on her behalf. Can you find it in yourself to forgive us?" Elara's voice was soft, her eyes downcast, but Stella could see the smugness in her eyes, the same smugness that had haunted her childhood.
She turned to Ansel, her voice shaking with anger and hurt. "So, you think I should forgive them—both mother and daughter?" The memories came flooding back, the pain of a ruptured eardrum, the numbness from bamboo whips, the torment of seeing her mother's belongings reduced to ashes...
She didn't ask why he fell for Elara. It would have made her seem too weak, too desperate for his validation. As she stubbornly waited for his response, Ansel's guilt seemed to dissolve into the air, replaced by a sense of righteousness. "Stella, Elara was just a kid back then. She didn't understand right from wrong. She's been remorseful for years and has already apologized to you. Why hold onto the past so tightly?"
The physical and emotional abuse that threw her into an endless abyss—that's what he called the past. Refusing to forgive Elara wasn't about being petty. It was about holding onto the only thing she had left, her dignity. He was the one who took her to the hospital back then; he knew better than anyone how deeply she loathed her stepmother and stepsister.
Yet, he chose to fall in love with Elara and align himself against her. When Ansel reached out to take her hand, trying to broker peace with Elara, Stella slapped his hand away. "Ansel, what gives you the right to ask me to forgive them?" she asked sharply, her voice echoing off the walls.
Behind her father's back, they abused her, tricked him into despising her, and after his death, they didn't even bother with his funeral... Ansel looked at the back of her hand, now red from where she had slapped him, and frowned in confusion and discontent. "Stella, I'm trying to help you. You're without parents now and Elara and her daughter are the only family you have left. Why hold on to the past and continue to suffer?"
"You need to move forward, don't you?" Ansel's words were meant to be comforting, but the impatience she knew so well was already showing through his otherwise calm and composed face. But there was no longer the familiar tenderness and care in his voice. She could feel her heart, already battered and broken, shatter into dust. The pain was so intense it left her almost speechless.
Elara's eyes, brimming with feigned sorrow, held a glint of the same smugness and provocation as before. "Stella, it's alright if you can't forgive me. I'll keep repenting and feeling guilty until you accept me as your non-biological family." The words were like salt in an open wound, twisting the knife deeper.
"Get out!" Stella's voice was a roar, a cry of pain and anger that echoed through the room. She couldn't bear to look at them, couldn't bear to hear another word. Ansel's betrayal, Elara's hypocrisy, it was all too much. She needed them gone, needed the space to breathe, to heal.
As the door slammed shut behind them, Stella sank to the floor, her body wracked with sobs. The pain was overwhelming, a tidal wave that threatened to drown her. But through the tears, she found a spark of determination. She wouldn't let them win, wouldn't let their betrayal define her. She was stronger than this, stronger than the pain.