“Anika, Nivianne and I grew up together. That surgery was an accident. Even if she didn’t use one hand, maybe your father wouldn’t survive anyway. The media is eating her alive now. Be good. Record the video. Explain it clearly. Then this will be over. The doctors are waiting, Anika... And after that, I’ll bring your brother out. Okay?”
He made it sound like he was asking, but his eyes… they told me I had no choice.
Do I have the right to refuse? Can I even say no? If I disagree, will I end up in prison too? Or will I end up like my father?
My heart felt like it was breaking.
I thought Wilbert loved me. For five years he gave me everything. Every gift, every whim, no matter how expensive, he made it appear for me. He never raised his voice at me, never scolded me. I thought he was my safe place.
But since my father’s failed surgery, I begged him over and over to help me, and all I saw on his face was hesitation. And now I finally know. He was never my safe place. He was the one holding the knife.
At first Wilbert said it was inconvenient for him to step in. He acted like it wasn’t his business. But the moment he found out the person involved was Nivianne, everything changed.
“If you don’t agree, then your father will not survive today. And your brother will stay in prison forever. Anika, don’t blame me for being cruel. Nivianne grew up with me. She was the one who pulled me out of the car accident before. I promised her I would protect her forever. So even if it’s you, you can’t stop me.”
The words had barely left his mouth when my dad’s body started convulsing on the hospital bed. The alarms blared. Doctors rushed in and wheeled him away without even looking at me.
“Dad!” I screamed. I tried to run after him, but Wilbert grabbed me by the arm.
“Record the video, and your dad can have the surgery,” he said.
I looked at him like I was staring at a stranger. “Wilbert… are you still even human?”
He shoved my hand away. His brows were sharp, his whole body pressing down on me like a wall I couldn’t escape. “Thirty seconds. That’s all you get,” he said.
And right there I felt cold inside. For the first time I was truly scared of him. I realized maybe all those years of love were just an illusion. Maybe they never existed at all.
I used to be his secretary.