No Ads
7:35 pm
Chapter 34
Chapter 34
EL 55 vouchers
Tristian shouted, panic rising. “That’s not true. She cut herself. She’s lying. She’s making it all up to frame me.”
Just then, Bailee walked back into the room, now dressed in clean clothes. Her eyes immediately landed on the bandage pecking out from Kayla’s collar. She rushed over and gently grabbed Kayla’s arm to inspect it more closely.
The gauze was still stained with bright red blood. Bailee’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at the wound. “Kay, how could you be hurt this badly? Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Let me take you to the hospital right now.”
Bailee’s sudden appearance seemed to catch Jackson off guard. He asked, clearly surprised, “Why are you back?”
Bailee frowned, “Didn’t we come back together?”
Jackson’s expression shifted slightly, but he recovered quickly. “I meant, why did you return so late? When I got home, you weren’t here. I thought maybe you were out with friends again.”
Kayla narrowed her eyes slightly, thinking, “That’s strange. Mom’s return today was planned days ago. Why would Dad act so surprised to see her?’
Though Jackson explained it away, something didn’t sit right with Kayla.
Bailee, however, didn’t seem to catch the oddity in Jackson’s tone. She just let out a tired sigh. “Something happened on the way back. That’s why I got home late. But we’ll talk about it later.”
She turned toward Tristian with a disappointed look. “Tris, how could you treat Kay like this? She’s your family. How could you hurt her? I’m so disappointed in you.”
Tristian’s face contorted with frustration. “Mom, it wasn’t me. She hurt herself. She’s framing me.”
Before he could say another word, Bailee slapped him across the face. “Shut up. She’s your sister, and that’s how you talk about her?”
After being slapped by both Jackson and Bailee, Tristian stood there stunned, his cheek red and throbbing. His fists clenched at his sides as he glared at Kayla with barely contained fury.
He growled, “Kayla, you’d better tell them the truth right now. I didn’t hurt you. Say it.”
Kayla whimpered and immediately curled up into Bailee’s arms, her voice small and trembling. “Tris, it’s okay if you don’t admit it. I mean, what kind of killer ever confesses to killing, right? But you’re still my brother. I don’t blame you.”
Kayla thought bitterly, ‘Even if it’s fake, the blame is sticking to you whether you like it or not. Why do you think I stabbed myself last night?
‘I even collapsed at school from the pain today. There’s no way I’m letting that blood go to waste!‘
Jackson had assumed it was just another petty sibling fight. But now, looking at the bandaged wound on Kayla’s shoulder, his chest tightened with anger. And Tristian’s reaction, along with Kayla’s cryptic words, only made it worse.
Jackson snapped, his voice rising, “You bastard, you’re still lying? Kay has been terrified of pain since she was a kid. And you expect me to believe she’d stab herself?
“I told you to protect your sister and never get her hurt. Did you forget what I said?”
Kayla lowered her eyes, her long lashes trembling slightly. She thought, her chest tightening, ‘So Dad remembers that I’ve always been afraid of pain.
1/2
7:35 pm
Chapter 34
55 vouchers
But when Tristian, Marianna, and even Davon hurt me in my last life, why did he just stand there and do nothing?”
She scoffed inwardly, ‘If this were the old me, I’d probably think he was finally showing me fatherly love. But now, I know why he never wanted me to get hurt.
‘It wasn’t because he loved me. It was because scars would ruin my face. And if I wasn’t pretty, I wouldn’t fetch a good price when the time came to “sell” me.‘
She almost wanted to laugh at the thought. ‘What a joke.’
2/2
