GOOD OR BAD NEWS
1012 Words
After leaving the hospital, Hazel rushed home. She knew Yohan wouldn’t have agreed to let her go, but she couldn’t stay at the hospital. She needed to return to the place she still considered home.
Entering the sprawling mansion, she dashed straight to her room. Her bed looked different—messy in the way it had been fixed after she left. Somehow, it brought a small, bittersweet smile to her face. Perhaps Ethan had spent the night there, even alone. Maybe his scent still lingered on the sheets.
Hazel trailed her hand across the bed, only to prick her finger on something small and sharp. A woman’s earring—not hers.
“This…”
“Sister, you’re finally back.”
Hazel’s heart jolted. She wanted to believe the voice she heard was a trick of her mind, but reality crashed down on her. Her step-sister was in her room, wearing her nightgown, just as the Jackson’s young miss would.
“You came back early. I thought you’d be away longer.”
“Why… why are you here? And why are you wearing my nightgown?”
“Come on, sister, it’s just a nightgown. I’ve taken more than this from you.”
It was true. Ivy had taken far more than a dress—her life, her happiness, and most painfully, Ethan’s heart.
“Be careful, sis. Today it’s a dress… tomorrow, who knows? Maybe the title of Mrs. Jackson will be mine.”
“How dare you—”
The sound of the door opening cut her off.
“Ivy, are you done…?” Ethan’s voice froze as he saw Hazel. She looked at him with sadness, desperate for him to acknowledge her, but he walked past her, handing Ivy a packet of what looked like new clothes.
“Here, new dresses. Hope you like them,” he said.
“I always like what you give me. Sorry, sister, I’ll just use your bathroom—hope you don’t mind?”
Hazel wanted to protest, but she knew it would change nothing. Ethan wouldn’t defend her; he would always side with Ivy. But this time, she needed answers.
“I’ll wait outside,” Ethan said, completely ignoring her. Hazel couldn’t let herself be dismissed. She grabbed his shirt, her eyes pleading.
“Ethan, won’t you explain? Are you just going to leave like this?”
“Explain? Explain what?”
“Ivy… her presence in our room. This is supposed to be our room—but you and she…”
“Ivy and I did nothing wrong,” he interrupted.
For a fleeting moment, a spark of hope lit in her chest—until the rest of his words cut deeper than any blade.
“…We did nothing but love each other. Don’t you see? You’re just the third wheel here.”
“But… I’m your wife…”
“And I wish you weren’t. I wish I’d never met you.”
Each word pierced Hazel’s heart like a poisoned dagger. She had just fought for her life at the hospital, yet while she struggled, her husband lay with her sister in their bed. The betrayal was devastating—not just because she loved him, but because he didn’t love her.
Her legs buckled, and she nearly fell. Ethan caught her instinctively.
“Hazel, what’s wrong?”
Even in his eyes, filled with hate and contempt, worry flickered. Tears streamed down Hazel’s face as she reached to touch him. But then Ivy appeared, clutching her chest.
“Ethan… it… it hurts…”
Ethan panicked, tossing Hazel aside and rushing to Ivy’s side. Hazel knew the truth: Ivy was faking, using her “broken heart syndrome” as a ruse. Everyone believed Ivy was suffering, but the real pain belonged to Hazel.
Bearing her hidden agony, Hazel stepped out of the room. She took medicine she had secretly carried, not for Ivy, but to avoid worrying her father. Each day she survived was a borrowed one; the next was never certain.
“Young Mrs., you’re finally back,” Aunt Jane said gently, grounding her. Aunt Jane had discovered Hazel’s condition by accident and promised to keep her secret.
“Why are you back so early? Shouldn’t you be resting?”
“I’m fine. I can still live for another day.”
Aunt Jane’s heart ached at that thought, seeing the young woman trapped in a loveless marriage, forced to witness her husband with her step-sister. She simply nodded and smiled, hiding her concern.
“You must be hungry. Let me prepare something for you.”
“I’m fine, Aunt Jane. I ate at the hospital.”
“Are you sure?”
“I assure you,” Hazel replied.
She settled in the living room with a book, leaving Ethan and Ivy alone in her bedroom. Life had become cruelly ironic, but this was her reality.
“Young Mrs., you have a visitor?” Nelly said, puzzled. Perhaps it was Yohan. But Hazel had warned him not to worry.
“Hazel, my dear daughter.”
Her father’s presence overwhelmed her. She ran into his arms, crying, letting all her pain out.
“Stop crying. You’re no longer a child.”
“Sorry… I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too. But you must be strong. You’re a married woman now.”
Her father’s words, meant to comfort, only deepened her pain. She forced a smile.
“Yes, Dad. Ethan treats me very well.”
She could only hope her father didn’t see the cracks beneath that smile.
“By the way, where is that husband of yours? Did he go to work?”
“He…” Hazel hesitated, unsure what to say. If she lied and Ethan appeared, how could she explain?
Suddenly, her father’s angry voice cut through the room:
“You… what are you doing?”
Hazel turned to see Ethan and Ivy upstairs, holding hands, Ivy practically clinging to him. In that moment, everything she had hoped for unraveled. The reality was undeniable—her worst fears had come true.
- Writer
