You Can Have Them

The narrative plunged directly into the freezing tension of the Vance Manor living room. Nadine rushed forward, frantically grabbing Serena’s hand. Her voice stammered as she attempted to construct a flimsy explanation that the gathering had not been planned at all. "Serena, please, it is not what you think. Lyla just arrived. This gathering was not planned at all."

Serena simply stared at her. Her eyes grew red with unshed tears and deep-seated betrayal. Her voice cut through the excuses as she directly asked if Lyla was the one they truly saw as their daughter. She pointed out the glaring hypocrisy of the situation. "So she is allowed to be present, but I am not? Is Lyla the one you truly see as your daughter, dad? Mom? Because you explicitly told me, your biological child, not to come."

Sitting in his armchair, Roland snapped back. He deflected any blame, accusing Serena’s longstanding, vocal dislike for Lyla as the sole reason for her exclusion. "Serena! You have never liked Lyla, and that is exactly why we did not invite you." He harshly warned her. "Now that you are back, do not ruin my birthday with your dramatics."

Serena stood silently, taking in the devastating room. Her mother guiltily avoided her piercing gaze. Lyla stood to the side, looking fearful and victimized. Her father’s face was contorted with thinly veiled annoyance. It became clear that her own family was walking on eggshells around her, treating her like an unwanted intruder.

Gathering her shattered pride, she slowly approached the central coffee table, gently and deliberately setting down the meticulously chosen gift she had brought. "Happy birthday, dad," she said, the words hollow.

Mistaking her quietness for surrender, Roland sighed in audible relief. "Alright, thanks for your gift. Sit down now. Let us not dwell on this."

But Serena stayed on her feet. She slowly turned her cold, predator-like gaze directly onto Lyla. She offered a chilling congratulations, declaring that Lyla had finally gotten exactly what she wanted. "Congratulations, Lyla. You got what you wanted."

Serena announced to the room that there was no need to compete anymore; she formally stated that her husband was now Lyla’s, revealing that they were getting divorced. "No need to compete with me anymore. My husband is yours now. We are getting divorced." Then, with a voice devoid of any remaining familial warmth, she added that if Lyla wanted her parents so desperately, she could have them too. "If you want my parents so much, you can have them too."

As Lyla’s face paled dramatically and she stammered out a pathetic denial, "Rena, I did not..."

Roland exploded. He leaped up, yelling at Serena to stop her vicious nonsense in front of Lyla’s young, innocent son. "Serena! Stop your nonsense! There is a kid here!"

Fighting back the burning tears to ensure her flawless makeup remained an intact armor, Serena shot back. She turned her attention to little Leo, asking the boy directly who had been with him the entire previous night. "Kid? Why do you not ask him who he was with last night? Leo, who was with you?"

The timid boy, too young to lie effectively in this moment, stammered and admitted it was "Dex."

The room plunged into a suffocating, heavy silence. The undeniable proof of Declan’s betrayal hung in the air until Leo, utterly overwhelmed by the thick tension, shrank back and burst into loud, frantic tears.

Playing her victim role to perfection, Lyla dropped to the floor, covering her son’s ears. She began to weep openly, loudly claiming that Leo had a terrifying fever and she had no other choice but to call Declan for help. "Rena, Leo had a fever. I did not know what to do! I had no other choice but to call Declan." Gathering the crying boy into her arms, she moved toward the door, offering to leave so she did not ruin the family further. "If it bothers you, I am leaving right now."

Infuriated by Lyla’s tears, Roland lost his temper. He pointed a trembling finger at his biological daughter, roaring at Serena to get out. "Get out!" He accused her of being a constant source of trouble, fiercely defending Declan’s actions as noble and righteous toward his widowed sister-in-law and nephew. "Lyla is Declan's widowed sister-in-law, and Leo is his nephew. What is wrong with him helping them?"

Then, Roland landed the most devastating, unforgivable blow: he spit out that sometimes he wished he had never had Serena as his daughter. "Sometimes I wish I had never had you as my daughter!"

The words shattered Serena’s final defenses, and the tears finally broke free, rolling down her cheeks. Digging her perfectly manicured nails deep into her palms to stay anchored, she faced her parents with an icy, unyielding resolve.

She stated coldly that if they truly saw nothing wrong with the betrayal she had endured, she would leave. "If you see nothing wrong with what she has done, I will go." She promised them not to worry, as she was never coming back. Acknowledging that she was never really their daughter anyway, she declared an end to their relationship right then and there. "I was never really your daughter. Let us end everything here."

Without a single backward glance, she spun around on her heel to leave the suffocating house.

But Lyla, desperate to maintain her image, dropped to her knees and rushed over, clinging desperately and tightly to Serena’s leg. She begged Serena not to be mad, tears rolling down her wretched face as she loudly took on all the blame. "It is all my fault. Please do not be mad!"

A sharp, physical pain shot through Serena’s calf from Lyla’s desperate, digging grip. Reflexively, acting on pure instinct and revulsion, Serena forcefully kicked her away.

"Ah!" Lyla cried out dramatically, crashing hard to the polished floor with Leo still clutched in her arms.

At that exact, chaotic moment, the front door opened, and Declan strode through, arriving just in time to witness Serena standing over the fallen, weeping mother and child.