Betrayed By Husband, Stolen By Brother In Law

Chapter 332: Caught

Melody’s breath caught in her throat.

The words hung heavy in the air, and for a second she could barely process them. Why are you pretending to be Melanie, Melody?

Her mind spun. How? How could her mother know? Had she slipped somewhere? Missed something obvious? Had she stood differently? Spoken too warmly? Her thoughts were racing—searching for the answer, desperate to regain control.

No. No, maybe it was a guess. A bluff.

She swallowed hard and forced herself to breathe, her face tightening as she tried to control her heart rate and lied through her teeth. "I... I’m Melanie. Are you mistaken about something?" she said quickly in a voice firmer than she felt inside. "You said so yourself... I called you Mom, didn’t I? I understand why you might want me to be Melody. After all, you have raised her and loved her for all these years...."

Melody tapered off as Marianne didn’t flinch or react and gave her a long, calm look, then slowly got up. Without saying a word, she walked over to the door, turned the lock with a soft click, and then returned to the stool beside the bed.

Melody tensed.

From her purse, Marianne pulled out a small zip pouch and opened it. "Let me tell you something about your mother, Melanie" she said in a quiet. "She has always loved peanuts. Especially the spicy kind."

Melody watched in silence, every nerve in her body on edge as Marianne unzipped the pouch and tipped it upside down into her palm. A small pile of roasted peanuts slid into her hand.

"But what a fool I am," Marianne added lightly, glancing at the empty pouch. "I forgot my EpiPen today."

Her words were almost playful. But the tension beneath them was anything but.

Melody’s heart slammed in her chest as she stared at the peanuts. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. She knew this was a test—a trap, even. But her body didn’t wait for her brain.

As soon as she saw Marianne lift the peanuts to her mouth, something in her snapped. "Mama, no!" she shouted, grabbing her mother’s wrist and smacking the peanuts out of her hand in a sharp, panicked motion. They scattered across the floor with a dull clatter. "You’re allergic to peanuts! How can you be so careless?"

The room stilled. noveldrama

Melody’s hand was still frozen in the air between them. Her chest heaved once. Twice. Then she let out a choking breath, and the panic that had been threatening to break spilled over.

Tears welled in her eyes and poured down her cheeks before she could stop them. "I didn’t mean to-" she whispered, but the words broke into a sob. "I’m sorry. I didn’t want to lie. I just- I didn’t know what else to do."

Marianne didn’t speak right away. She just sat there, her hand still extended where the peanuts had been, her expression unreadable.

Then she leaned forward, slow and measured, and cupped Melody’s cheek. "Thank you for caring enough for your Mom, Melody. Now, tell me, why are you lying about being Melanie? And where is Melanie?"

Melody covered her face with her hands. The dam had broken. The lie had crumbled. There was no more pretending. If Marianne Thomas had been angry, Melody might have been hold onto the lie. But, instead, Marianne took her hand in hers and patted it softly, "Come on, tell mama everything. From the beginning."

Melody trembled as Marianne held her hand gently, her thumb moving in small, slow circles across her knuckles. That one simple gesture was so familiar and so safe that it finally cracked the last of her defences.

Her voice came out broken. "I... met someone, Mama. A man. About a year ago."

She didn’t look up. Couldn’t. Her fingers dug into the bedsheet as if anchoring herself. "It felt like... like love at first sight. He was kind, attentive. The way he looked at me, the way he listened, I thought I’d found something real. He was caring... and possessive. The kind that made it feel flattering at first. Like I mattered to him more than anyone else in the world."

Her words tumbled out faster now, as if saying them made the weight easier to carry."I was ensnared before I even realised it. I thought I was lucky.. That someone had seen me... chosen me. That was when I told you about him, if you remember."

Marianne stayed quiet, letting her speak which made Melody cry harder.

"After a few months of dating, he invited me to his villa," Melody continued, her voice lowering. "It was this remote, beautiful place-like something out of a movie. And I... I said yes. I didn’t even think twice."

She let out a shaky breath, her nails pressing crescent-shaped marks into her palms. "But once I got there... things changed. Slowly at first. He started finding ways to stop me from leaving. He’d say he missed me too much, that the outside world didn’t deserve us. That we were better when it was just the two of us."

"At first, I believed him. I was happy that he wanted all of me. And enjoying our time together. That he cared enough to want to spend every second together. But then..."

Her voice cracked. "One day, one of my colleagues called me. Just to ask when I was returning. It was a woman I’d worked with briefly-a harmless call. But when he found out..."

Melody’s whole body shuddered as the memory surfaced like a cold wave. "He went crazy, Mama. He screamed, shattered things. And then... he hit me. Slapped me so hard I couldn’t hear out of my ear for a full day. I tried to protest, to stand up for myself-but it was like the man I loved had vanished. I didn’t even recognise his face anymore."

Her voice dropped to a whisper. "After that, I wasn’t allowed to speak to anyone. Not even friends. He took my phone, locked the landline. The only people I was allowed to talk to... were you and Papa. And even then, only when he was in the room. He’d smile, act sweet while I spoke to you both-but the moment the call connected, he’d watch me like a hawk."

She looked up then, her eyes swollen and red, the skin beneath them blotchy. "Mama... I barely escaped from there."

And with that, the last of her composure broke. Melody dropped her head into her mother’s lap, sobbing uncontrollably. "I didn’t know what else to do. When those people came for us in the car, I just had an intuition. That he’d sent them for me. So I... I used Melanie’s name. I thought I could hide behind it, just for a while... I never thought it would go this far. But... you don’t have to worry. Melanie will return soon. Once he recognises she is not me, he will let her leave. And then, I will ask her for her forgiveness."

Marianne sat there, stroking her daughter’s hair in slow, comforting motions, her own face pale with the weight of the confession.

"You should’ve told us," she said softly, but without accusation.

Melody let out a bitter laugh through her tears. "How could I, Mama? All I wanted to do was forget about him. Pretend that I never knew him..."