My Death Exposed His Lies

I refused to help his childhood sweetheart use connections to land a promotion. She got so angry she went for a driveand a semi-truck killed her on the highway.

After my husband found out, he froze me out every night. His depression deepened until it consumed him. Then came the cancer diagnosis.

Guilt crushed me. I quit my job to care for him full-time. I let him humiliate me. Beat me. Scream at me. I even endured the vicious retaliation from his dead sweetheart's friends.

To pay for his treatment, I sold our apartment. Then the car. Still not enough.

My dad took on three jobs to help us. Day shifts. Night shifts. No rest. He collapsed at our front door and never got up.

When they found him, he was still clutching cash in his fist. His last words: Use this for Elliot's treatment.

I shattered. I wanted to follow him. But the debts weren't paid. I couldn't die yet.

Not until tonight.

Not until I picked up a temp shift at this bar and saw herthe childhood sweetheart who was supposed to be deaddraped over himthe husband who was supposed to be dyingwhile they partied like they owned the world.

"Hahahaha, that idiot Daniela Simmons is probably still losing sleep over her guilt!"

"Elliot, you geniusfaking my death, faking your cancer, making her quit her fancy job to become your servant."

"You, youI've felt so bad tormenting my Dani to help you get revenge. But it's been long enough. Time to stop."

"I don't want to hurt my Dani anymore."

The plate slipped from my hands. Blood surged up my throatI couldn't hold it back. It splattered across the floor.

The crash sent a wineglass flying onto the woman beside me.

Kayla Harding's friend.

"You again, you walking disaster" Katherine Fox's face twisted with hatred. "Getting my friend killed wasn't enough? Now you're coming for the rest of us?"

She grabbed a liquor bottle and smashed it over my head without hesitation.

"Kayla wasn't as clever as you," she spat. "She just wanted you to help her get promoted. But you refused. Then you spread it around as a cautionary tale, humiliating her in front of everyone."

"She drove off in tears. Didn't see the truck coming." Katherine's voice rose to a scream. "Her body's rotting in some unmarked grave while you walk around breathing! When are you going to join her, murderer?!"

The music cut out. Laughter died. Every eye in the bar turned to us.

Blood poured down my face, soaking into my shirt. I must have looked pathetic. Broken.

But I couldn't focus on the wound. My legs gave out.

Three days agothe day Dad diedI got my own diagnosis. Stomach cancer. Late-stage.

I'd been skipping meals. Skipping medicine. Saving every penny for Elliot Gilbert's treatment.

And now the truth was staring me in the face: He was never sick. Kayla Harding was never dead.

The only ones dying were Dad. And me.

If they hadn't lied, I never would have quit. Never would have abandoned my career to play nurse for a man who treated me like garbage.

"Get up and apologize." Katherine loomed over me, her heel grinding into my hand. "Did you hear me?"

She glanced back at Kayla and Elliot's table.

Kayla raised her glass with a serene smile. Elliot gave the faintest nodpermission granted. One last time.

They still didn't know I'd seen them.

And with that nod, Katherine went feral.

Her stiletto pinned my fingers to the floor. She twisted.

"You want to know why I hate this piece of trash?" she announced to the crowd. "Her spite killed my friend. Kayla's dead, and this bitch is still breathing. How could I not hate her?"

The moment those words left her mouth, dozens of eyes locked onto meburning with contempt and righteous fury.

"Beat her to death! Blood for blood."

"Yeah, don't let her off. Someone died, and she's walking around perfectly fine."

"If it were me, I'd break her hands"

Curses piled on from every direction, but I couldn't make out the words anymore. My ears just buzzed, like a swarm of bees had crawled inside my skull.

Katherine's lips curled into a smug sneer as the crowd rallied behind her.

I knew exactly why she hated me this much. That day, I hadn't just rejected KaylaI'd rejected her too. And she'd been waiting to make me pay ever since.

But everyone at the company worked themselves to the bone. Who among us wasn't busy from dawn to midnight, grinding through overtime just for a shot at a promotion or a raise?

How could I let two people who'd never put in a day's real work steal slots from those who actually earned them? And the one who spread those rumors wasn't meit was Katherine herself.

Now she was using Kayla's fake death to get her revenge.

"Are you deaf, or are you already dying? Lick my shoes clean, and maybe I'll let you leave."

I'd barely managed to catch my breath. The second I tried to push myself up, Katherine's palm cracked across my face again, snapping my head to the side.

"Katherine Fox, that's enough!"

"Kayla wasn't killed because Dani hit her with a car. If you people hadn't pressured her to use connections for that promotion, none of this would've happened."

Luna Delgado shoved through the crowd and pushed Katherine back.

"Dani, are you okay?" She crouched beside me, her voice tight with worry. "Is your stomach acting up again? I'm taking you to the hospital right now."

But before Luna could lift me onto her back, Katherine waved people over to surround us.

Elliot sat in the shadows, frowning as he watchedbut he never stepped forward. Not once.

Kayla sauntered over and settled beside him, draping her arm across his shoulders.

"Elliot, don't get worked up. Katherine knows what she's doing. She won't beat Daniela to death or cripple her." She smiled. "If she'd really wanted to use deadly force, Daniela wouldn't still be moving, right?"

At that, Elliot's expression softened. He raised his wineglass and clinked it against Kayla's.

"I figured you wouldn't go that far. I only want you to scare her a littleteach her a lesson. I can't actually bear to see her get hurt."

"Of course." Kayla's smile widened. "Since this is the last time we're teaching her a lesson, help me with one final act, okay?"

Elliot drained his glass, set it down, and wheeled himself toward meletting his friend push the chair.

"Daniela Simmons." His voice dripped with disgust. "So instead of staying home to take care of me, you snuck out here to fool around with some pretty boy."

"People told me you were partying with guys at the bar. I didn't believe them. But here you are." His jaw tightened. "Do you even have a conscience? Are you hoping I'll just die faster?"

I wanted to climb off Luna's back and face him. Tell him the truth.

But I couldn't summon any strength at all. So this was what it felt like when life slipped awaythis helpless, clawing desperation.

"Brother-in-law, don't say that about Dani!" Luna's voice cracked. "She didn't come here to party. She took a temp job to earn extra money for your treatment. You've got it all wrong."

Katherine let out a sharp laugh. "Daniela Simmons? Working a bar job? She's way too proud for that. Who'd believe such a ridiculous lie?"

"Exactly. You get caught red-handed, and suddenly it's 'I was just here to work.'"

"Heh heh, what a lie."

Luna was about to explain, but Elliot cut her off.

"Daniela Simmons, get down here. Explain this yourselfotherwise don't even think about going home."

If I could move, I'd have already come down to confront them all. Instead, I had to watch their little performance.

The injustice of it burned through me. Their lies had killed the only family I had left, destroyed my future, my youtheverything.

I summoned every ounce of strength just to lift my head and look at Elliot.

He was glaring at me, eyes wide with rehearsed fury. What an actor.

But I couldn't hold on long enough to speak. Warmth trickled from my noseblood, about to spill.

The moment Luna noticed something was wrong, her face went pale. She pulled me tight against her back and tried to rush out.

She was the only one who knew about my illness. I'd never told ElliotI didn't want to be a burden.

But his people blocked the exit.

"Elliot, let us go! Do you know Daniela's sick too? It's stomach cancer."

"She paid for your treatment without saying a word. She just wanted"

"What?" Elliot's head snapped up. "What did you say?"

Before Luna could continue, Katherine cut in.

"Hahahaha! Pretend! You two will say anything to make excuses for yourselvesyou'll fake anything."

"Stomach cancer? Then I've got leukemia! I'm dying too!"

Laughter erupted around us.

Whatever flicker of concern had crossed Elliot's face vanished instantly.

"Damn it, Daniela Simmonsget the hell down here. Now. Did you hear me?"

Luna kept trying to explain. He wouldn't listen.

In the shadows, Kayla sent Katherine a message. Without hesitation, Katherine kicked us both over.

Luna and I crashed to the floor together. Glass shards sliced into our palms.

I was beyond pain nowmy nerves had gone numb. I had no strength to speak, let alone crawl up.

Luna choked back a sob. She dragged herself over and tried to lift me, her hands slick with my blood.

Elliot couldn't see any of it. He thought we were acting.

"Fine! I lowered myself to bring you home, and you still refuse." His voice turned cold. "Since you two sisters are so close, let's see how you feel watching your precious friend get beaten."

"Beat her. Beat her until Daniela's willing to crawl up and beg."

Katherine moved first. In seconds, more than a dozen men had Luna surrounded.

She was alone against all of them.

Tears blurred my vision. My eyes were slowly closing.

I'd never felt so hopeless. Even as they beat her bloody, Luna kept crawling toward me, still trying to get me to the hospital.

I never understood why she was so good to me. I'd only helped her onceand she'd remembered it forever.

We grew up together in Duckwater, but I had family. She was an orphan.

She was always the one who got bullied. Every New Year, every holiday, every house in the village was warm and brightexcept hers, cold and empty.

So I brought her home. My father took her in as his goddaughter. From then on, she had a dad. She had me, her older sister, to protect her.

From that day on, she was never alone again.

After that, she stopped being weak. She became someone who knew how to protect the people she loved.

More and more people gathered to watch. Not one of them stepped forward. Not one of them tried to stop it.

When I was about to close my eyes, I looked at Luna with guilt.

I wanted to tell her I was sorry. I wanted to tell her that since the day I claimed her as my little sister, I'd never once regretted it.

But time wouldn't give me that chance.

In the distance, Kayla held a wineglass and watched us with a smile.

Every time Elliot showed even a hint of softness, she'd text himharden your heart, punish them.

Maybe he sensed something was wrong with me, because Elliot had them stop.

The moment they backed off, Luna dragged her battered body over and pulled me up.

"Daniela! Daniela!"

She shook me in panic. When she realized my eyes had fallen shut, her own turned red.

"Elliot, help me!"

"Daniela faintedcall an ambulance!"

Elliot wheeled himself over. He glanced down at me, then scoffed.

"Call what? She's faking it."

"I don't even get what you're thinking. For her sake, you completely ignored whether you lived or died"

"She's not pretending." Luna's voice cracked. "She's really dying."

"If you won't call, I will."

She set me down and fumbled for her phone, but Katherine kicked it out of her hand.

"You haven't even apologized to me yet! And you're already looking for an excuse to leavewhat fantasy world are you living in?"

Luna broke.

All she wanted was for me to be safe. So she knelt. She apologized. She kowtowed again and again until her forehead split open, blood streaming down her face.

Katherine still wouldn't let us go.

Luna completely lost control.

"Elliot, if you keep stopping me from saving Daniela, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

Her bloodshot gaze made him freeze. He couldn't see any trace of acting on her face.

So he told Katherine to stop. This time, no one blocked Luna.

She hoisted me onto her back and ran.

Elliot was about to stand and chase after her, but Kayla walked over and grabbed his hand, pulling him back into her arms.

"What's the rush? Daniela will be fine. Trust me."

"Why not enjoy tonight first? After all, it's the last time you have to act. Haven't you thought about yourself at all?"

As she finished speaking, she lifted her head and kissed him. Her lips made his whole world collapse.

After Luna brought me to the hospital, she knelt outside the operating room and prayed, repeating over and over that she hoped nothing would happen to me.

She didn't know my soul was right beside her. I could never be saved.

When the operating light went out and the doctors emerged, Luna scrambled to her feet.

When they announced my death, she collapsed to the ground and cried until her heart shattered.

I tried to comfort her, told her not to cry, but she couldn't hear me.

In the end, after she'd cried herself dry, she stood and walked in. She carried my body out on her back.

I remembered when we were littlewhen she'd been beaten until her whole body was covered in bruises, I'd carried her home on my back just like this.

Back then, she'd smiled and said that when she grew up and I got old, she'd carry me on her back too. She'd take me traveling around the world.

While my body was being cremated, Luna called Elliot countless times. He didn't answer once.

Finally, she gave up. She went home alone, holding my ashes.

What she didn't expect was that the moment she opened the door, she saw Kaylathe woman who was supposed to be deadsitting on top of Elliot, kissing him.