Chapter 3
I huddled in the shadows behind the column, watching Madison stand on the spiral staircase crying her eyes out.
The spot on her neck where a sapphire necklace should have been was empty, and the velvet gift box was laying at my feet.[]
“That was the birthday present Mom and Dad got me.“[]
d
Madison’s hands shook as she gripped the red velvet banister, her diamond manicure nearly digging into the gold details.[]
“It just disappeared.“]
Mom wrapped Madison in her arms:
“It’s okay honey, if we can’t find it, I’ll just buy you another one.“[]
Before the words even finished, the red–dress minion had already emerged from the storage room clutching the sapphire necklace.[]
“Found it! It was under this maid’s bed!“]
The words “Precious Daughter” engraved on the back of the pendant burned my eyes under the flashes.[]
Two servants immediately grabbed my arms and dragged me forward.[]
The tin candy box tumbled from my pocket, the faded sticker fluttering across the Persian rug.[]
The guests‘ chatter crashed over me like a wave.[]
“How can the Thornes‘ help be stealing stuff?“]
“Seriously, someone with sticky fingers like that should’ve been kicked out ages ago!“]
“I heard the Thornes‘ dead daughter was really close with her. Mrs. Thorne only kept her around because of that. Wonder if their original daughter was the same kind of person?“]
Those words stabbed right through me. I glared at them, furious.[]
I broke free from their grip and spun around to fight back:[]
I’m not a thief, and neither was my sister!]
I wanted to charge at Madison and slam her to the ground.[]
To tell all these guests that everything should have been my sister’s, that Madison was the real thief.[]
Madison glanced at me, then started crying even harder:[]
“If JoJo likes it, she can keep it. It’s normal for girls to like pretty jewelry.“[]
The shadow her lashes cast when she looked down overlapped eerily with how my sister used to look when she wiped away my tears.[]
“Besides, all this stuff originally belonged to Maya anyway. If she were still here, she probably would have given it to JoJo herself!“[]
Chapter 3
“Like hell she deserves it!“]]
Dad’s hand whipped across my face.
His voice sounded like it was coming from miles away:[]
“Maya never should have saved an ungrateful little brat like you. Why wasn’t it you who died?“]
Yeah, why wasn’t it me who died.[]
Blood colored my vision, and I thought I saw eighteen–year–old Maya standing at the top of the spiral staircase in a blood–stained white dress.
I slowly reached out my hand.[]
“Sis, did you come to take me with you?”
Seeing my reaction, Mom and Dad quickly turned to look up the staircase.[]
But there was nobody there.]]
Dad thought I was mocking him and raised his hand to hit me again.
One slap, two slaps, three slaps…
The harder he hit, the more his hand trembled.[]
Mom’s fingers had gone white from clenching them so tight.]
For just a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of heartbreak in Mom and Dad’s eyes.]
But mostly, there was still hatred.[]
All at once, hurt, self–blame, regret, and sadness crashed through me.
I knew my sister hadn’t sacrificed her life to save me just so I could endure this.
But I couldn’t stop making myself suffer more. re.
More than enduring it, it felt like penance.
Only this way could the guilt of getting my sister killed keep me from staring at the ceiling all night long.
