I was completely flabbergasted, not having the slightest idea how to handle the information Ellie had just served me.
What was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to say?
My mind hit reverse, and I was sliding down the mountain slope at a deathly dangerous speed.
I clenched my jaw, trying to direct my rage at her, hoping that the pain I caused myself would stop me from reacting inappropriately.
After all, I didn’t want to scare her. She was in a delicate condition, and a wrong word could push her over the edge.
“There! I knew you would react like that. I knew you would be disgusted.” Ellie was on the verge of tears.
“No. No! Look at me,” I ordered. “Never say that again. You’re my sister, Ellie! I love you, and nothing can change that. No matter what you do, I will always be here for you.
“You can never ever disgust me. Got that?” It was the truth. I would die for her. Repulsion was never an option. “Now, tell me everything.”
I had millions of questions and things to figure out before I could plan how to make this right for her and the baby.
Ellie sighed and tried to pull her hands from my grasp, but I didn’t let her. She needed to know I would never let her go.
“I met Philip last October on campus. He was there as a guest of sorts. He gave a lecture on international relations in business. Though he’s older by a couple of years, we connected instantly.
“Our souls recognized each other, and it was love at first sight. It was one of those moments you read about in romance novels; eyes meet, and you know he’s the one.”
Ellie was not here with me, I could see it on her face. She was somewhere else, in some other time, reminiscing about when she and that Philip guy met.
But I had no idea what she was talking about. I had never experienced such a moment, and the realization brought a bitter sting to my heart.
“We started spending more and more time together, and after a couple of months, he admitted he loved me, and I did the same. And things went on from us being blissfully happy to…this.”
A fresh wave of tears escaped her eyes.
“I believed in our future together. We dreamed about it, and in that dream, everything was perfect—so perfect, I should’ve known it was impossible.” Ellie sobbed, her voice breaking.
“Last week, I realized my period was late, and I took the test. I thought Philip would be happy, but I never had a chance to tell him.”
Another cry followed, and it felt like a knife stabbed into my heart because I knew what she was about to say.
“He said…it’s over…he said it’s over. He said not to look for him…and lied when he said he loved me.” She had trouble forming coherent sentences, but I got the point just fine.
What could I even say about this? I was boiling. I was ready to kill. That bastard hurt my sister! I would annihilate him, if it were the last thing I did.
“Yesterday, I went to the clinic. I had an appointment...”
An iron fist of sorrow clenched around my heart. She didn’t need to elaborate. It was clear to me what kind of appointment she’d had.
What troubled me the most was the realization that she went through all of it alone; it ate me from the inside.
“But I couldn’t go through with it.”
I exhaled the breath I’d been unconsciously holding.
“When the nurse called out my name, I ran. I couldn’t kill her.”
Ellie wasn’t looking at me as she spoke in a low, thin voice, but I had no problem understanding. My soul understood every word my sister uttered.
Tears flew down her cheeks like inexhaustible rivers, and I wasn’t any better.
“I understand, sweetheart, I understand…” I pulled her into my embrace again, realizing how long it had been since we had been this close.
“I promise everything will be fine. We’ll get through this together, like always.” I planted a kiss on her temple and tucked her head under my chin.
But imagining a little boy that would call me aunt—and I was sure it was a boy, a boy that I would love and spoil and fight for—gave me the strength to keep myself sane.
“I don’t understand how you’re not mad at me,” Ellie said, surprising me. “How you... Don’t you hate me for destroying everything we worked on for so long?”
“Ellie, I could never hate you. But I am angry. No, I am beyond angry! I am furious that you kept this all to yourself. I’m mad you went through all that by yourself.
“I’m mad because you didn’t trust me enough to tell me what was going on with you. Ellie, no matter how busy I am, you and the little one are always my top priority. Don’t ever doubt that, please.”
As we sat on the couch holding each other, a spark fired up in my mind—an idea. I could predict it would be terrible one, but I had to see it through.
“What is his name?” I asked casually, trying to sound as inconspicuous as I could.
“Philip King,” Ellie blurted out, and my lips turned upward involuntarily.
King, King, King…why did that sound familiar? This was a big city, but I could swear I had heard that name before.
And then it clicked.
“King as King Enterprises?” I was taken aback by the mere possibility of my sister being involved with one of the biggest business sharks in the country.
But when I came to think of it, I wasn’t surprised she got her heart broken by some filthy-rich bastard whose only intention was to play around with her.
Ellie had a good heart, and despite everything that had happened to us, she still had faith in people and saw only the good in them.
“I guess…why? Please, tell me you’re not going to do something stupid!” Panic was evident in her demeanor, and I hurried to reassure her.
“No, sweets, don’t worry. I won’t do anything stupid,” I reassured her. However, my plan was already set in motion. “But you have to promise me something in return…
“You will never, ever, not by any chance or under any circumstances, try to hurt yourself like today. Do we have a deal?”
Ellie nodded her head, and indeed, her eyes were telling nothing but the truth. I got up and offered her my hand, which she accepted immediately.
I had my sister back, and being aware of how close I was to losing her, I made a silent promise never to let her drift away from me again.
“Come, let’s get you to bed. You need rest. You’ve cried enough, and from now on, it’s forbidden. Understood?”
Ellie’s lips twitched upward in a smile that, for a change, reached her eyes. There was hope in them and a willingness to fight for their lives.
I helped her get into bed and pulled the cover over her before closing the blinds and turning the light off.
“Sophia?” she called out when I was about to close our bedroom door. “Why did you come home so early? Is everything okay at work?”
“Sure, Ellie. What could be wrong? I’m just exhausted, so Mr. Saunders gave me time off to rest,” I lied through my teeth.
There was no chance in hell I would tell her what happened to me mere moments before I’d entered our apartment.
As soon as I shut the door, I took my phone from my purse and began Googling the Kings. Their company was, as I expected, the top search result, and I recognized their building downtown from the pictures.
It was late afternoon, and by the time I got there, he would probably have left the office and I wouldn’t be able to catch him and hurt him as I intended to.
Finding his home address was a challenge, but as it turned out, there was a forum where girls shared the information I needed and much more.
King’s address was there. I could only pray that the crazy fangirls didn’t get it wrong.
Sinfully excited, I wrote it down on the piece of paper, locked the door, and headed right toward that posh part of town where the King’s residence was.
