Chapter 7: The Woman Who Wanted Our Life
The message arrived thirty seconds after the call ended.
A single notification.
A single name.
*Bethany.*
For a moment, nobody moved.
Not me.
Not Mark.
Not even Diane.
The room felt frozen.
Like everyone was waiting to see what kind of damage could come next.
Mark looked at my phone.
“Open it.””
My fingers felt numb as I tapped the screen.
The message was short.
Almost casual.
That made it worse.
*Bethany: You should have stayed quiet. Now you’re going to lose everything.*
I stared at the words.
Then another message appeared.
*Bethany: You always thought you won because Mark chose you. You never understood that he was supposed to choose me.*
My stomach turned.
I looked at Mark.
His face had gone completely still.
Not angry.
Not shocked.
Just empty.
The kind of empty that happens when someone finally sees the truth they spent years refusing to accept.
Diane stepped forward.
“What did she say?””
Mark didn’t answer.
I handed her the phone.
She read the messages.
And for the first time since this nightmare started, Diane looked afraid.
Not angry.
Not defensive.
Afraid.
“She wouldn’t…”
I looked at her.
“She already did.””
Diane shook her head.
“No. Bethany just gets emotional.””
Mark turned toward her.
“Emotional?””
His voice was quiet.
“She forged documents.””
Diane said nothing.
“She manipulated people.””
Still nothing.
“She hurt my daughter.””
Her lips parted.
But no words came out.
Mark nodded slowly.
“That’s what I thought.””
I watched my husband walk away from his mother.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
Like he had finally stopped waiting for her to become the person he needed.
Diane sat down.
For the first time, she looked older.
Not because of her age.
Because the reality she had protected for years was finally collapsing.
“I didn’t know,” she whispered.
I believed her.
But only partly.
Because sometimes not knowing is a choice.
Especially when the truth is standing right in front of you.
Mark picked up his phone.
“I’m calling Daniel.””
Diane looked up.
“Why?””
“Because he’s the only person in this family who has been honest.””
The words hurt her.
I could tell.
But they were true.
Daniel answered after one ring.
“Did you get the message?””
Mark looked at me.
Then back at the phone.
“Yes.””
A pause.
“Then you know.””
“Where is she?””
Daniel sighed.
“I don’t know.””
Mark’s expression hardened.
“Daniel.””
“I’m serious.””
His voice sounded exhausted.
“She left my house this morning.””
I frowned.
“Why?””
Daniel was quiet.
Then he said:
“Because I confronted her.””
Mark leaned against the wall.
“What happened?””
“I asked her why.””
A long silence followed.
Then Daniel continued.
“She didn’t apologize.””
That didn’t surprise me.
“She blamed you.””
Mark closed his eyes.
“Of course she did.””
“She said you always got everything.””
I felt my chest tighten.
Daniel continued.
“She said your parents loved you more.””
Mark laughed quietly.
A painful sound.
“Loved me more?””
Nobody spoke.
Because everyone knew the truth.
Mark had spent his entire life trying not to disappoint people who had never truly seen him.
Daniel’s voice became quieter.
“She said something else.””
Mark opened his eyes.
“What?””
“She said Rosie was the reason everything changed.””
My hand flew to my mouth.
Mark went completely still.
“What does that mean?””
Daniel hesitated.
“I don’t know.””
But he did know.
Everyone did.
Bethany didn’t hate Rosie because of anything Rosie had done.
She hated Rosie because Rosie represented something Bethany couldn’t control.
Mark had built a life outside of her.
A happy life.
A family.
A place where Bethany was no longer the center.
And she couldn’t accept it.
Mark ended the call.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Then Diane quietly said:
“I need to tell you something.””
Mark looked at her.
“I’m listening.””
She looked down at her hands.
“Bethany wasn’t always like this.””
I almost said something.
But I stopped.
Because maybe this was the first honest thing she had said all night.
“When she was younger, she was different.””
Diane swallowed.
“She was confident. Funny. She made friends easily.””
Mark didn’t respond.
“Then you were born.””
His face changed slightly.
I knew where this was going.
Diane continued.
“You were quiet. You were responsible. Teachers loved you.””
She looked at him.
“And Bethany hated that.””
Mark looked away.
“I was a child.””
“I know.””
Her voice broke.
“I should have noticed.””
The room became silent.
“You always tried to make everyone happy,” Diane said.
Mark gave a small bitter smile.
“And Bethany learned she could do anything because you would fix it.””
Diane nodded.
“Yes.””
The honesty surprised me.
“She became used to winning.””
Diane looked at the floor.
“And when she started losing control…”
She stopped.
“When you married me,” I said.
Diane looked at me.
“Yes.””
That answer hurt.
Because it confirmed something I had suspected.
Bethany didn’t hate me because I was me.
She hated what I represented.
A life she couldn’t own.
Mark walked toward the window.
“What happened to the company documents?””
Diane looked confused.
“What?””
“The fake transfer.””
Her face changed.
“I don’t know.””
Mark stared.
“Mom.””
“I swear.””
For once, I believed her.
“Bethany asked me questions about the company. I thought she was trying to understand the business.””
Mark shook his head.
“She was trying to steal it.””
Diane covered her mouth.
The weight of that finally reached her.
“My daughter…”
She couldn’t finish.
My phone buzzed again.
Everyone looked.
Another message.
This time, not from Bethany.
From an unknown number.
I opened it.
And immediately felt cold.
It was a photo.
A photo of Bethany sitting in a car.
With someone beside her.
Someone I recognized.
Mark leaned over.
His face changed.
“Who is that?””
I zoomed in.
The person in the passenger seat turned slightly toward the camera.
And my blood ran cold.
Because I knew him.
Everyone knew him.
It was Robert’s business partner.
The man who had worked beside Mark’s father for twenty years.
Under the photo was one sentence:
*“Ask your father who has really been helping Bethany.””*
Mark stared at the screen.
Then slowly looked at Diane.
She looked just as shocked.
“I don’t understand.””
But Mark wasn’t looking at her anymore.
He was looking at the photo.
At the person beside Bethany.
Because suddenly, this wasn’t just about a jealous sister.
It wasn’t just about a broken family.
Someone else had been guiding her.
Someone with money.
Someone with power.
Someone who knew exactly how to destroy us.
And then Mark noticed something in the background of the photo.
A sign.
A location.
His face went pale.
May you like
Because the place where Bethany had been meeting this person…
Was somewhere only our family knew about.
