Rebirth: The New Bride Wants A Divorce-Chapter 463: I choose myself

Roseline stepped forward sharply, her heels clicking against the marble floor, each sound slicing through the thick silence.

"Anna, enough," she said, her voice trembling with restrained fury. "Do you even hear yourself? The way you’re speaking to your father—it’s disrespectful. No matter what, he is still your parent. You should stand by him. That’s what family does."

Anna didn’t flinch.

Roseline moved closer, lowering her voice, softening it into something that sounded like concern but felt like pressure. "We raised you. We gave you everything. A roof, education, a name. You think people just get that for free? You owe us loyalty. You owe your father support in his darkest time."

Anna looked at her, eyes eerily calm, almost detached.

"Owe?" she repeated softly. "For what? Being fed? Being allowed to exist in your house? That wasn’t love, Mom. That was responsibility."

Roseline stiffened, as if struck.

"How can you be so cold?" she whispered. "He is breaking in front of you."

"No," Anna replied quietly. "He’s pretending."

Hugo’s jaw clenched, a muscle ticking near his temple.

Roseline tried again, desperation seeping through the cracks in her voice. "Even if he made mistakes, even if he wasn’t perfect—you forgive your parents. You sacrifice for them. That’s how it works."

Anna shook her head slowly. "No. That’s how emotional blackmail works."

The room fell into a suffocating silence.

"I’ve sacrificed my entire life," Anna continued, her voice steady but eyes burning. "My choices. My feelings. My dignity. All so you both could feel secure. I smiled when I was hurting. I stayed quiet when I wanted to scream. I became everything you wanted me to be. And now that I finally say no, suddenly I’m cruel?"

Hugo’s restraint snapped.

He had never realized Anna was capable of seeing through him so clearly, and the exposure made his blood boil.

His face twisted, the mask of weakness finally shattering.

"Ungrateful little brat," he spat. "After everything I gave you, this is how you repay me?"

Both Roseline and Anna were taken aback by the venom in his voice.

"Hugo—" Roseline turned to him in shock.

"No, let me speak," he cut in sharply, eyes locked on Anna now, no pretense left. "You stand there acting righteous, but you forget one thing."

He stepped closer, towering over her.

"You’re not even really mine."

The words landed like a gunshot.

Roseline froze. "Hugo... what are you saying?"

Hugo laughed bitterly, a sound stripped of warmth. "Why should I beg her? She doesn’t even carry my blood. She’s the daughter of that pathetic man you slept with before marrying me."

Roseline’s face drained of color.

"Hugo, stop," she whispered, teeth clenched. "Stop it."

But he didn’t.

"You’re not a Bennett," Hugo continued, voice rising with cruel satisfaction. "You’re the blood of a nobody."

Roseline stared at him, horrified. "You promised. You promised you would never tell her."

Hugo didn’t look at her. He only looked at Anna.

"Now you know why I never cared," he said coldly. "Why should I love a child that isn’t even mine?"

Silence swallowed the room.

Roseline felt dread flood her lungs, her chest tightening as if the air itself had turned heavy.

This was not how it was supposed to go.

All she wanted was Anna to support Hugo, to fix things, to play her role like always. But now, standing here, watching Hugo unravel so completely, Roseline finally saw what she had been protecting all these years.

A lie.

Anna remained quiet the entire time, her eyes blank, unreadable.

Too unreadable.

"I know," she finally said.

The two words were soft, almost gentle, yet they cut deeper than any scream.

Hugo blinked. The fire in his eyes faltered, surprise flickering across his face.

"You... what?" he muttered.

"I know you’re not my father," Anna repeated calmly.

Roseline gasped as fear dreed her heart. "Anna...stop"

Roseline had been completely taken aback by how everything had spiraled so violently out of control. She never imagined Anna would actually refuse to help Hugo—never imagined he would lose his temper so badly that he would expose the truth himself.

The room still felt heavy with it.

"So... stop forcing your selfish act into convincing me that I should always support you, because I won’t." Anna’s voice was calm, but there was something unbreakable in it now. Not anger. Not hatred. Just exhaustion that had finally turned into clarity.

"I’m done being your safety net. I’m done cleaning up messes I didn’t create."

Roseline opened her mouth. "Anna, we’re not trying to manipulate you—"

"Yes, you are," Anna cut in softly. "You just call it love so it sounds kinder."

She took a slow step back, as if finally creating space between them.

"For years, every time something went wrong, I was told to be patient. To be understanding. To be the bigger person. I carried your disappointments, your secrets, your failures, and I smiled while doing it because I thought that was what being a good daughter meant."

Her throat tightened, but she didn’t let her voice break.

"I was foolish back then. I thought if I sacrificed enough, you’d finally see me. Finally choose me. Finally love me without conditions."

She looked at Hugo, who stood stiff and silent.

"But all you ever did was use my loyalty as a shield. Every lie you told, every bad decision you made—I was expected to absorb the consequences so you wouldn’t have to."

Hugo scoffed. "You’re exaggerating."

Anna’s eyes hardened. "No. I’m finally being honest."

She turned back to Roseline. "You taught me that love meant endurance. That if something hurt, I just had to tolerate it quietly. That protecting family meant protecting men who refuse to take responsibility for themselves."

Roseline whispered, "We just wanted to keep this family together."

"Family in which I was never considered a part of?" Anna laughed at Roseline’s remark.

She might be the mother who gave her birth, but she never really cared for her. And she knew because she feared her lies would get exposed, so she played along while doing things she shouldn’t.

Silence stretched between them.

"I am not responsible for fixing what Dad did nor I will ask Daniel to help him when he is clearly at fault," Anna said firmly. "I didn’t lie. I didn’t manipulate. I didn’t destroy trust. Yet somehow I’m always the one expected to help, to compromise, to stay."

She let out a hollow laugh. "That’s not love. That’s emotional labor disguised as duty."

Hugo’s voice dropped, threatening. "You think walking away makes you innocent?"

"No," Anna replied. "It makes me done." Hugos expression contorted because first time in his life he could see that Anna wasn’t lying. She had made up her mind.

She straightened, finally looking lighter than she ever had in that house.

"I carried your burdens long enough. I won’t carry your guilt, your pride, or your consequences anymore. Your mess is yours to face. Your redemption is yours to earn." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Her eyes softened, just slightly, when she looked at Roseline one last time.

"I didn’t lose my family today," Anna said quietly. "I lost the illusion that I ever had one that saw me as a person instead of a tool."

She turned away.

"And for the first time in my life," she added, "I choose myself. Not out of anger—but out of survival."