Until Forever Fades

Thalia had learned to read the air in the house like a second language.

Tonight, it was the worst kind of silence-the heavy, suffocating kind that made the walls feel like they were holding their breath.

She stood at the kitchen sink, rinsing the last dish from dinner, her ears trained on the murmured voices from the living room. Her stepfather, Richard, sat in his usual chair, swirling a half-empty glass of whiskey. Her mother sat across from him, her hands folded tightly in her lap.

Thalia didn't need to see her face to know she was afraid. It was always the same cycle. The quiet before the storm.

The tension shattered in an instant. A sharp crack rang through the house, followed by the sound of her mother gasping.

Thalia didn't think-she moved.

"HEY!" Her voice cut through the tense air as she stormed into the living room.

Richard turned, his cold stare locking onto her. He wasn't surprised to see her. If anything, he looked bored. Bursting into the living room, she found her mother clutching the side of her face, Richard standing over her, his hand still raised. His cold eyes flicked to Thalia, narrowing with warning. "Go to your room," he said, his voice dripping with annoyance.

Thalia felt her body shake-not from fear, but from rage. "No." Her mother shot her a desperate look, silently begging her not to make things worse. But Thalia had spent years not making things worse, years walking on eggshells, pretending, ignoring, swallowing her anger like poison.

Tonight, she was done. Richard let out a slow, cruel chuckle, shaking his head. "You think you can stand up to me?"

"I don't think. I know." Her mother's terrified eyes pleaded with her to stay quiet, to back down-but Thalia was done pretending.

His smirk faded. He took a step toward her, and she refused to move. "You're not even my kid," he sneered. "I don't have to put up with you."

Thalia felt something inside her snap.

She had spent years tiptoeing around his temper, watching him belittle her mother, enduring his disgust toward her like she was some parasite in his house. But this? This was different.

Thalia's stomach twisted. It wasn't news. She had always known he wasn't her biological father, but hearing him say it-hearing the disgust in his voice-made something inside her crack.

She lifted her chin. "Then why don't you just get rid of me?"

A slow smile spread across Richard's face. "Maybe I will."

Her blood ran cold. For the first time, she saw it-the truth beneath his mask.

He had never just disliked her. He had wanted her gone. He might have wanted her mother earlier but not her.

And tonight, maybe he was finally going to make that happen.

Then- A sound interrupted them. The soft creak of a drawer sliding open. Thalia's breath hitched as she turned.

Her mother stood at the side table, her hands trembling as she pulled out an envelope. "Thalia..." Her voice was shaky but determined. "Go pack your things."

Richard's expression shifted from amusement to fury. "What the hell are you doing?"

Her mother lifted the envelope, gripping it tightly. "You're not her father. You never were."

Thalia's heart stopped. The tension in the room is getting to her. Her mother's eyes filled with tears, but her voice didn't waver. "You never have been. You only happened to be in the picture, simply because Daniel was gone and I was afraid. But I'm not afraid anymore."

Richard's hands curled into fists. "You don't want to do this Rosalind." Her mother met his glare, standing taller than Thalia had ever seen.

"Try and stop me." And in that moment, Thalia realized-this wasn't just about Richard's hate. It was about a secret big enough to destroy everything she thought she knew. And now that it was out, there was no going back.

"What do you mean?" Thalia's voice barely came out. "If Daniel was gone, then what happened to Daniel was dead...I thought"

Thalia's pulse pounded in her ears. The world around her blurred-the flickering light, the half-empty whiskey glass, the weight of Richard's glare-but all she could focus on was the envelope in her mother's hands. Her mother swallowed hard, her grip tightening on the envelope as if it were the only thing keeping her from falling apart.

Richard's jaw clenched. "Don't you dare."

Her mother flinched but didn't back down. "You never wanted her," she whispered. "She was never yours, and you know. But you stayed because you liked control. You liked having something to break."

Thalia's stomach twisted. Again.

Richard took a slow step forward. "I gave you a life," he hissed. "Both of you. I picked you up when you needed something to rely on."

"You gave us fear," her mother shot back. Her voice shook, but there was fire beneath it. "But I'm done. And so is she."

She turned to Thalia, eyes brimming with unspoken pain. "Sweetheart, please. Go pack your things."

Thalia hesitated.

A thousand questions clawed at her mind, but the weight of her mother's plea was heavier than all of them.

Richard's expression darkened. "You think you can just leave?"

Her mother took a sharp breath. "We're going." And then-Richard moved. Faster than Thalia expected, he lunged forward, yanking the envelope from her mother's hands. "NO!" Her mother gasped, reaching for it, but he shoved her back so hard she stumbled into the table, knocking over the whiskey glass. The envelope tore open in his grip, papers fluttering to the floor.

Thalia's breath caught as a single document slid across the hardwood-bold letters at the top catching her eye.