“It’s just a bracelet! I’ll buy you hundreds of
them! Okay?”
“You pushed Tiffany down the stairs,
remember? She’s had a concussion ever since,
and her head still hurts. I can’t believe you don’t feel bad! Don’t you dare act like Tiffany is the
one in the wrong!”
Old me would have thrown a fit. I would have
screamed and cried until Chad paid attention to
- me.
But I just stared at them.
Chad blinked. “Why aren’t you making a
scene?”
+ཅཔ ཅ༥ oད[༦པ! U[ v+ P་བདT | པH/\ PཔHཅད་༦། |
I laughed. When I used to be jealous, he got
annoyed. Now that I didn’t care, he asked why I
wasn’t making a fuss.
I didn’t say another word. I turned and went
upstairs.
In the afternoon, I heard Chad yelling at the
housekeeper.
“You got it wrong earlier, and if it happens
again, you’re fired! Okay?”
“Okay,” the housekeeper said in a small voice.
A few minutes later, Chad came into my room,
followed by the family doctor.
My cheek was still red. Five clear fingers were
burned into my skin.
Chad’s face was flushed. He hesitated, then
said. “Come here. Let the doctor look at your
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said, “Come here. Let the doctor look at your
face.”
The cut on my head had already started to
scab, but it still hurt.
The doctor checked my head in a perfunctory manner. Then he smirked. “I’ve seen patients
like you a thousand times before. I bet she hit
her head on purpose, just so she could get
some attention.”
“Too bad you didn’t hit it hard enough. This cut
is healed over.”
He poked the wound and showed Chad.
“It’s nothing. Miss Tiffany had it so much worse
when she fell down the stairs!”
“She’s still getting treatment, and she told me
that she’s been feeling dizzy all day since
someone slapped her across the face.”
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As if on cue, Tiffany leaned weakly against the
door frame, looking like she was about to pass
out.
The doctor and Tiffany were the perfect tag
team. Anyone would sympathize with Tiffany.
Chad paled.
Without giving me a chance to respond, Chad
grabbed my arm and dragged me to the door.
“Brittany, what happened to you?!”
“Apologize to Tiffany, right now!”
He shoved me. I stumbled and knocked over an
antique vase. Shards of glass embedded themselves in my hand.
I looked up, held out my bleeding hand, and
said calmly, “This is the third time you’ve hurt
me today Chad
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Chad flinched.
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He reached for me, but hesitated. “Brittany… I didn’t mean to.”
Tiffany and the doctor exchanged a look. Then Tiffany crouched down and grabbed my hand.
“Brittany, you didn’t have to slap me if you were upset. But you didn’t need to knock over the vase, or cut your hand, okay?”
“Don’t hurt yourself, please! We care about
you.”
The doctor knelt next to me.
“So, because I said you weren’t cutting it with
the head injuries, you decided to stab your hand
with a shard of glass? You’re wasting medical
resources.”
Chad’s eyes narrowed. In his mind, I was the
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manipulative monster they painted me to be.
Tiffany and the doctor were still lecturing me.
“Petty!”
“Inexplicable!”
My hand was on fire.
I ignored the pain. I pulled myself up, grabbed
the largest piece of glass, and slapped Tiffany.
Then I hit the doctor in the face for good
measure.
“Brittany, are you insane?”
Chad pushed me away and rushed to Tiffany.
I landed on the floor. Tiffany was crying, afraid
her face was ruined.
I started to laugh. They had no idea that once
–
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my blood touched them, they were doomed.
I smeared the blood on my clothes and turned
to leave.
Then, I fainted.
When I woke up, I heard a doctor telling Chad,
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“Miss Brittany’s skin is falling apart. She should
be dead right now, it’s a miracle she’s still
alive.”