Forever After All: Chapter 6

I stare up at the grand mansion in front of me, the gates imposing. I inhale deeply before forcing my feet forward. I press my palm to the scanner, and a sigh of relief escapes my lips when the gates swing open. Part of me expected to be denied entry—I wouldn’t put it past my stepmother to find a way to remove all my biometric data. She’s tried to cut me off from my father and brother the moment she stepped into our lives, and she’s succeeded. I wouldn’t even be here if my mother’s life didn’t depend on it.

I’m nervous as I reach the door, my gaze dropping down to the old clothes I’m wearing and my torn-up shoes. A couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have been caught dead in this outfit, and now I can’t afford anything better. I hardly ever feel embarrassed for the way I live my life now, but standing here in front of my childhood home, knowing I’ll be judged and found lacking… it hurts.

It kills me that I have to resort to coming here at all, that I’m incapable of caring for my mother on my own. I can’t help but think back to every decision I’ve ever made, every bit of money I could have and should have saved.

I brace myself as I walk into the house, feeling out of place in this cold and foreign mansion, not a single trace of my childhood remaining. I stop by the dresser in the hallway, my fingers tracing over it. There have always been three photos here, one of my parents, one of Matthew and me, and one of the four of us. All three photos have been replaced to remove every trace of my mother and me. It’s like my stepmother recreated every photo that used to be here, replacing only my mom and me. I grimace, a faint pang of hurt twisting my heart. This house used to be filled with love. This is the house my mother turned into a home. Now it’s a place where I’m not even welcome.

“What are you doing here?”

I turn, a bittersweet smile on my face. I’d somewhat understand those words coming from Elise, my stepsister, or even from my stepmother, Jade. But no, it’s my own brother.

“Hi, Matthew,” I murmur, masking my aching heart behind a perfectly crafted smile.

He grimaces as he takes in my outfit, his disgust obvious. I tense, bracing myself against the pain I know he’s about to inflict. My eyes drop to the woman next to him, and unease settles in the pit of my stomach.

“Is that your sister?” Jennifer asks. She and I have never met in person, but I’ve seen plenty of photos of her, most of them from when she used to date Alexander. A wave of possessiveness that I’m not even remotely entitled to washes over me as I think back to the way he always used to look at her, as though she rendered everyone else invisible to him. I don’t understand how she could ever leave Alexander for an asshole like my brother, and I’m thankful I haven’t been around to watch it happen. Based on the rumors going around, I’m certain it would’ve eradicated the last shreds of respect I feel for my brother.

“No,” Matthew says. “Can’t you see she doesn’t belong here?” he adds, turning up his nose.

I’m rendered speechless, tensing as I try my best not to take his words to heart. Back when Mom got into that car crash, Matthew and I fell apart too. He’s convinced that I’m making Mom suffer by selfishly keeping her alive, and he’s made sure I know it. Over and over again, Dad and Matthew have tried to convince me to let Mom go, until I could take no more. Yet here I am again, years later, at their mercy.

“I won’t stay long,” I say, my voice soft. “It’s about Mom.”

Matthew raises his brow and crosses his arm. “Did she die?” he asks, as though he couldn’t care less about his own mother.

I grit my teeth as I shake my head.

“Then I don’t need to know,” he says, grabbing Jennifer’s hand. She shoots me an apologetic look, but I don’t miss the amusement in her eyes.

“What is all this commotion?”

I turn to find Dad standing in the hallway with Jade by his side. Hatred rolls over my skin, raising every hair on my arms. She looks irritated to see me, her eyes trailing over me in dismay.

“Dad,” I murmur.

He sighs and shakes his head. “Look at you. What an embarrassment. Can’t you at least dress normally, Elena?”

I bite down on my lip, desperation clawing up my throat. “I’m sorry, Dad,” I say, wanting to take it back immediately.

Dad looks away. “Your mother left you a trust fund worth millions, but look at you. She’d be embarrassed to call you her daughter.”

Jade tenses at the mention of my mother. It’s subtle, but I see it. I see the hatred in her eyes, the defensive stance.

“Dad, could I speak to you, please?”

Jade raises her brows. “We don’t have secrets in this family,” she says. “Anything you say to your father, you can say to me.”

Dad nods and wraps his arm around her waist. She leans her head against his shoulder, the two of them picture perfect. One year. It took Dad one year to have Mom declared brain dead and marry Jade. Did he ever even love Mom at all? Did he ever even love me? He’s cast me aside with such ease that I can’t help but wonder.

“It’s about Mom.”

Dad tenses, and for a second I could’ve sworn I saw a glimpse of worry for her in his eyes, but it’s gone before I can even blink.

“I… Dad, I can’t… I can’t keep her alive any longer. I’ve run through my entire trust fund paying for her medical bills. I don’t think I can pay the bills this month, and if I can’t, they’ll take her off life support. Please, Dad,” I say, my voice breaking. “Please, help me. Help me save Mom, please.”

Dad’s eyes widen and he swallows hard, but then Jade tightens her grip on him and looks up at him. “Darling, that isn’t a matter related to our family,” she says. Then she looks at me and smiles. “And as far as I recall, you aren’t part of this family either. You left all by yourself, swearing you’d never return, yet here you are, asking for money. It was my birthday last week, and you didn’t even call. Yet now you expect us to give you money to waste on a lost cause?”

Dad tenses and nods. “Jade is right. Elena, it’s time to let your mother go. What you’re doing to her, it’s unnatural, and I want no part of it. Besides, Jade was right to say you left this family yourself. You’re no longer part of this family, and you cannot come back begging for money. I thought I raised you better than that.”

An angry tear drops down my cheek and I swipe it away. It’s at the tip of my tongue to tell him that he didn’t raise me—my mom did. But I can’t say that.

“Please, Dad. I’ll do anything. I’ll come back to live here, and I’ll work for you. Anything you want. Just help me save Mom, and I swear I’ll be the perfect daughter.”

Elise’s shrill laughter sounds from behind me, and hopelessness overwhelms me. She walks up to Dad and her mother, and Jade wraps her arm around her.

“He already has the perfect daughter,” Elise says, “and it isn’t you.”

Panic grips me and I drop to my knees as I try my best to remain in control of my breathing, but my desperation is suffocating me. I look up at Dad with tears in my eyes. “Dad, she’ll die if you don’t help me,” I force myself to say, my voice labored. “I promise I won’t ever ask anything of you again. Please, help me keep her alive. That’s all I ask. I’m begging you.”

Dad looks at me with fresh dismay. “You’re making a fool of yourself, Elena. Get up, for God’s sake. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I won’t spend another cent on your mother—she’s been declared dead, and it’s time you accept that and let her go.”

Jade nods at him in satisfaction and pulls him away as I burst into tears on the floor. She looks back at me with a smile on her face and my eyes fall closed, my heart completely shattered.

I’ve exhausted every option to keep my mother alive. Every option but one. I think back to the card my mother’s nurse gave me, my stomach recoiling at the thought even as I pick myself up off the floor.

I’d sell my soul to keep my mother alive—so if I have to, I can and will sell my body, too.