Emily's POV
"M-mom, why did you hit me?!" I asked her stuttering. Her eyes reddened with rage.
"I've told you never to call me that, I could never give birth to a worthless child like yourself!"
She grabbed my arm and yanked it, forcefully pulling me into the house. My heart was racing with panic and then my step sister, Olivia showed up.
"Mom, you were right. She's really so shameless, coming back here after what she did!"
I pulled my arm out of my stepmother's grasp, massaging the second bruise I got this night apart from my cheek.
"I don't understand what both of you are saying, I didn't do anything wrong!"
This was why I hated coming back home because these two were always here to torment me but with the act like perfect Angels when my father was in sight.
It has been like this ever since my father remarried, but now it is getting worse. I desperately wanted an escape, something…anything to save me from this nightmare. Which was why I had blurted out a proposal to my boss.
"My ruby necklace is missing." Olivia said, shooting daggers at me with her eyes.
I couldn't believe what she was implying.
"What has that got to do with me?" I said to her, and Sandra just hissed.
"Why are you playing dumb? Everyone can see that you were jealous when her father gifted her that expensive necklace!"
My heart was squeezed with pain when she said *her father* as if I wasn't the biological daughter here.
But I was afraid of speaking up for myself, choosing to fight some battles and abandoning others.
"I didn't steal the necklace!" I said as firmly as I could.
"Liar!" Olivia screeched, "I want my necklace back–"
"What's going on here?" a deep voice vibrated from the front door causing everybody to look towards that direction, I saw my father and wanted to run into his arms.
He looked at me and his eyes immediately pooled with concern, he dropped the briefcase in his hand and rushed over to me inspecting my cheek.
"What happened to you? Why do you have a bruise here?"
"I–"
"She fell," my stepmother interrupted me, stepping behind and placing her fingers on my shoulders.
"Our daughter is so clumsy!"
Immediately all the concerning my father's eyes dispersed, at least the one for me. He asked why we were arguing and it was my stepmother that told him.
"Olivia's favorite necklace has been missing for some time and we were just asking Emily if we could check her room,"
'Asking'? I guess that was another word for harassment too.
She released my shoulders and continued.
"She suddenly started yelling saying that we were accusing her of theft,"
My father looked at me disappointingly, "Emily, how could you say such a thing?"
I bit my bottom lip bitterly, once again I was turned into the villain in the eyes of my Father.
"Father, I always lock my room whenever I go to work and even when I come back I don't let Olivia in…so how could one of her belongings end up there?" I thought my explanation was reasonable enough, but all Sandra had to do was flutter her eyelashes at my father and he caved into their request.
"Even so, Emily, Olivia is really worried so this is the least you could do,"
I looked at the father that had once held me so tenderly, now siding with my enemies unknowingly. My chest felt tight but I finally agreed so that they would let me be.
As soon as I opened the door, Olivia passed me all but brushing me outside. She first attacked my bed throwing the sheets and pillows on the floor.
"Olivia!" I screamed at her unable to help myself.
She turned around angrily, then her face immediately softened up when she noticed my father was also stepping into the room with Sandra.
"I'm so sorry, Emily, I'll put everything back into place after I'm done searching,"
"How considerate," Sandra cooed and my father nodded.
She she ended up going through my entire room like a hurricane tossing aside furniture and whatever came in her way until she stepped in front of my bra drawer.
"What are you doing?"
She didn't respond and just opened it, tossing aside my inner garments without a care until she suddenly paused, then she shoved her hand in and pulled out the last thing I expected to see there.
Her ruby necklace.
There was no way I had confused it for another, there was only one of it in the world and my father had it specially crafted for her when she turned eighteen, funny enough what I got on my own 18th birthday was a bit down second hand car which I had to abandon at a mechanic workshop after it gave me too much of a headache to maintain.
She came towards me and shoved the necklace in my face.
"How could you?!" She cried out.
"I didn't put it there…I…I don't know how it got there,"
I turned it to my father for support but what I saw was his face contorted with anger, Sandra placed her hand on his chest and looked straight at me.
"Emily, just apologize. If you wanted to borrow the necklace you could have just said something instead of stealing it!"
"I didn't!" I refuted her words.
"Father please…"
He held up his hand.
"Emily, Olivia has been telling me how you have been bullying her lately."
My heart sank, I was the one bullying her.
"I didn't believe her or even your stepmother when she pitched in, I thought that it was just an exaggeration that you would never do something so horrible,"
Tears began to spill out of my eyes.
"Father, I–"
"Enough, you're under my roof and you'll do as I say now apologize to Olivia."
"But!"
"Now!" He yelled at me, his voice vibrating like thunder. "Either you apologize or you can't stay here anymore,"
"Fine!" I spat out, "Then I'll leave!"