For a moment, the air froze solid.

The world seemed to fall silent.

Sophia turned ghost-white. "H-Honey? Why so fast? I told you—speeding's unsafe!"

When her eyes landed on me, she flinched, but still managed to sling mud my way. "Honey, bringing Vivi to apologize? Unnecessary! I'd forgive my bestie's daughter anything!"

"Send her away. Just stay with me."

Rattled by my father's early arrival, Sophia still had the audacity to perform.

But Dad wasn't looking at her. He was looking at Ben's hand—still resting on her thigh.

"Get. Your. Hand. Off. My. Wife."

Ben scrambled backward so fast he knocked over the IV stand. Medical equipment crashed to the floor.

"Sir—I can explain—"

"Explain what? That you've been screwing my wife? That the baby she was carrying wasn't mine? That you murdered my daughter in another life?"

That last part came from me, but only I heard it.

Dad advanced. Sophia shrieked. "Honey! It's not what it looks like! Ben was just—just checking my pulse!"

"With his tongue?"

Behind us, Lily's livestream was still rolling. The relatives crowded the hallway, phones out, mouths open.

Lily zoomed in on Sophia's horrified face and whispered to her audience: "And THAT, my friends, is what we call a face-heel turn."

The comments exploded:

"THE STEPMOM WAS CHEATING THE WHOLE TIME?!"

"Vivi was innocent! We threw eggs at an innocent girl!"

"BRO I SENT DOG BLOOD. I'm going to hell."

"Who's the secretary? He's kinda hot ngl."

Dad grabbed Ben by the collar and dragged him to the center of the room.

"Every. Single. Lie." Dad's voice was a serrated edge. "The money Vivi supposedly stole? The suicide threats? The STD? The bar fights? ALL of it was you?"

Sophia's act cracked like cheap porcelain. "I—I did it for us! For our family! She was in the way—"

"SHE'S MY DAUGHTER!"

The roar shook the windows.

I stood in the doorway, arms crossed, watching the man who'd slapped me, burned my mother's photos, and called me a bitch—finally direct his fury at the right target.

Did it feel good?

No. It just felt late.