Kram

as thick with the scent of exp

assive mahogany desk, h

softly, her eyes red and swollen. A p

d to the center of the room a

ss! Attacking your own sister, days before her wedding! D

e with just the right amount of fragile hu

is left eyelid-the universal physiologica

ered, letting my voice crack slightly. "She called

te mother, a sacred ground he couldn't publi

o cut to draw the most blood; in psy

arily silenced, his expression souring into a mask of pur

nease. "You will behave yourself for the next three days. You will get in tha

dercloud vanished, replaced by paternal concern. "Charly, stop crying. Your

affection, a cold, bitter smile hi

veyard, completely unaware that I had alre

way here, I had sneaked into Charly's bedroom and subtly brushed the invisible,

nd medicine, the moment it mixed with the heavy, synthetic sweet pea perfume she wor

tchy welts. Darren Contreras, a man notoriously obsessed with pe

obediently, shielding the d

.

the carriages arri

e roses, fit for a princess. It was for Charly, who was

and severe, marked only with a small, disc

aped in silks and pearls. He fussed over her

white dress, walked alone

at me. Not a single word o

roud father and my triumphant sister, calculating t

the reaction

nnocent smile I could muster. "I

ated girl. To me, it was a surgical precisio

ut. The wheels began to turn, taking me a

unknown, but for the first time in my life, I felt completely calm. My modern medical skills were my shiel

ght, far from the grand celebrations. It finally jolted

ontreras'

servants. Just a single, stooped old woma

etri was "resting." I was led through cold,

not been lit in the hearth. T

husband. No warmth. Just a p

the cold, silent room, I didn'

ere, no one knew me. No one watched

ronment-a blank canvas where I co