Divergent Future

Chapter 35

Tris's POV

A nightmare jolts me out of my restless sleep, and when I'm sure that it was just a dream, I lay back down on my pillow and turn towards my wall.

After Tobias's birthday, things were going amazing with us and our little family. Now, it's October, and we've all been excited for Halloween. We have all of the plans put together for it to happen next week, and we have all been so happy.

Until somebody came storming back into my life to try and mess it all up again.

The one person that I thought I had finally gotten rid of.

The person that I thought couldn't possibly have a hold on me anymore.

The person that just seems determined to ruin my life.

Ross.

Yes, he decided to show up about two weeks ago. At first, he would just show up when I was out in public like at the park or a store or a restaurant. All he would say was hi and then walk off. It obviously made me suspicious, but since he wasn't actually doing anything, I couldn't do anything about it.

Then he started messaging me on all of my social media platforms, telling me to get ready and to prepare myself. But he never said what I needed to prepare myself for. And then a few days ago, he got in contact with a bunch of tv stations and magazines and told them everything.

And when I say everything, I mean everything.

He told them about how I was excessively bullied in high school, but he said I was bullied because I was a horrible person to others. He told them about how I was kidnapped when I was 13 and about how I lost my baby sister in a car accident around the same time. He told them about Ronnie and said that I let her die. He made me out to be the bad guy in the situation. And he told them about my flashbacks, but he said that I got them because I was guilty of all that I had done. Because apparently I was the reason why all of those bad things happened to me.

He ended by saying that Tris Prior isn't the girl she says she is.

The stories were published and aired everywhere, and I was suddenly the talk of the media. Everyone wanted to know if it was true. I had some people outright accusing me of hiding my past on purpose, so people wouldn't know about the "horrible" person I used to be. I had others who didn't want to believe that I was a liar but wondered why I never said anything.

Things got so bad and out of hand that I couldn't leave my penthouse without being swarmed by crowds of people and cameras, trying to get answers from me. So I had a meeting with Matthew, and we decided it was best for me to do an interview explaining and clarifying everything that happened in my past before the rumors and stories got even worse.

So I did that interview yesterday and told the whole world about my horrible, traumatizing past.

I told them that I was bullied until I moved to Chicago, but it wasn't because I had done things to other people. I was bullied for my appearance. I told them the countless times I was taken advantage of because I was an easy target. I told them that I was kidnapped when I was thirteen, and they almost killed me before I was rescued. I showed them the scars on my back to prove it. I told them that my baby sister did die in a car accident, but it was because of a drunk driver, not anything that I did.

I told them that I did have a daughter when I saw 16, and the father was Ross, the guy who gave them all of this information. I told them she came down with a terrible illness that in the end took her life. I did everything I could for her, but nothing could save her. I told them how Ross got me pregnant and how much he tortured me over the years. I showed them the scars on my stomach as proof to what he and the others did to me. I told them that the flashbacks are apart of my PTSD; I don't have them because I'm guilty. I have them because of all of the traumatizing events that took place in my life.