Chapter 20

The speed at which Rosalie entered the hospital drew stares from people, who looked at her as if she were mad. In her haste, she even forgot to pay the taxi driver before rushing inside.

Carter struggled to explain what had happened over the phone, his tears making it difficult for him to communicate clearly and this only heightened Rosalie's anxiety, prompting her to rush to the ward that Carter had mentioned.

"Carter!" Rosalie called as she ran toward him. The moment Carter saw her, he sprinted the remaining distance and hugged her tightly.

"Oh my gosh! Carter, are you okay? Did something happen to you?" Rosalie asked, her voice filled with concern and Carter began to cry on her shoulder.

"Carter, please tell me what happened. I'm worried," Rosalie urged, gently patting him on the back.

"I don't think he can speak right now..." Athena said, and that's when Rosalie noticed her.

"But from what I know, his friend took a bullet for him at school," Athena added, and Rosalie's eyes widened as she broke the hug.

"Is that really what happened, Carter?" Rosalie asked, struggling to believe that someone actually wanted to kill him.

Part of her couldn't shake the thought that it was Apache who had tried to hurt her as well. Carter nodded slowly in response to Rosalie's question.

Rosalie gasped. "He's trying to hurt you too," she mumbled, sniffling. Carter glanced at her, surprise etched on his face.

"What do you mean? Did he try to hurt me as well? Who was hurt before? Did anyone try to hurt you, Rosalie?" Carter asked, concern evident in his expression.

"You may not understand everything right now, Carter, but I'm just glad nothing bad happened to you. I'm so happy," Rosalie mumbled, still caressing his cheek. She wondered how Rebecca would react if she lost another child, and that thought made her nervous.

"Enough of that," Athena interjected. "We're relieved that Carter is safe, but what about the girl who took a bullet for him? The doctor hasn't come out in hours, and..."

"I'm becoming worried. What if the girl doesn't make it?" Athena said, and Carter turned back to her.

"Don't say that. Gabriella is going to pull through; she's not going to die. I just don't understand why she took a bullet for me. I should have been the one in that position," Carter said, blaming himself as he began to sob again.

"Thank goodness it didn't happen to you, but I pray the girl will survive. After this, we should go report to the police," Rosalie said, soothing Carter's back.

"Where is the girl's family? Doesn't she have anyone? I don't see anyone here apart from the three of us," Rosalie questioned.

"I don't think her family cares about her. Because what the heck! No one is here, and she's been on the brink of death for hours," Athena replied, noticing that Carter was still crying with his face buried in Rosalie's shoulder.

"What if her family shows up and holds Carter responsible for what happened to her?" Rosalie asked, fear creeping into her voice.

"That's not going to happen. It's not like Carter shot her himself; she took the bullet herself," Athena responded, moving closer to Carter and pulling him away from Rosalie.

"Carter, could you please stop crying? You're 18 years old and on the verge of becoming a man. There's no need to cry like a 10-year-old. The girl is going to be just fine, and nothing-" Before Athena could finish, they suddenly heard angry voices from behind. The three of them turned around at once to see...

The principal, Mrs. Smith, and Mr. Smith walking closer together, with Isabella behind them. She could hardly contain her happiness that her sister was in that condition.

Mrs. Smith and Mr. Smith haven't liked Gabriella since she was young, and the same goes for Isabella. Isabella had always hated Gabriella and had often wanted to start a fight with her, but right now...

It's different this time because she didn't target Gabriella before, but now that she took the bullet, it feels even better and Isabella put on a fake sad face.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith were also pretending to be sad and angry as they approached Athena, Carter, and Rosalie.

As they got closer, Rosalie, Athena, and Carter realized that they had actually brought a police officer with them, causing Carter's eyes to widen in surprise.

"Mom, this is the useless boy for whom my precious sister took a bullet," Isabella said, pointing at Carter with fake tears in her eyes as they approached.

Carter gasped when he heard Isabella refer to Gabriella as her precious sister; he could hardly believe the words were coming from her.

"How dare you call my brother useless! Are you out of your mind, you little brat?" Rosalie exclaimed angrily at Isabella, causing Isabella's eyes to widen in surprise.

"W... what? Do you even know what your brother did wrong? He put my lovely sister's life in danger, and-"

"Instead of being on your knees apologizing to us, you're busy insulting me? What a ridiculous family!" Isabella exclaimed. As soon as she finished her sentence, Rosalie raised her hand to slap her, but Athena was quicker.

Isabella's cheek turned red as she stared at Athena with wide eyes, while Mr. and Mrs. Smith gasped in shock.

"How dare you use your filthy hands to slap my daughter!" Mrs. Smith yelled, her face a mask of fury.

"You should have taught your daughter to keep her mouth shut and she shouldn't have insulted her elders," Athena shot back. "And be careful what you say about me-I'm not normal."

"I'll make you regret slapping me. It's as if you don't know who we are, and that your brother will spend the rest of his life in prison because I doubt my sister will survive the bullet," Isabella said, her desire for Gabriella's demise evident in her tone.

Carter was dumbfounded; he didn't know what to do anymore. Perhaps he should apologize for putting their daughter's life in danger. After a moment of contemplation, he finally decided to act on that thought and...

He was about to go down on his knees when the police officer walked closer to him after Mr. Smith finished speaking to them.

"You're under arrest, Carter Evan, for putting the Smiths' daughter's life in danger," one of the four officers said, and Carter gasped in shock.

"Please forgive me, I don't know..." Rosalie cut Carter off before he could finish pleading.

"Are you really begging them right now? They don't deserve your apology. You should apologize to the girl instead when she wakes up. How can her twin sister wish her death when she hasn't even died yet?" Rosalie stated, her face contorted with anger.

"It's clear that this family hates their daughter. Do the police not know how to do their job anymore?" Rosalie added, turning her gaze toward the officers.

"Miss, be careful with your words. This boy is guilty of a crime for allowing the girl to take a bullet for him," one of the police officers said, causing Rosalie to gasp.

"Do you really understand what you're saying? He had no idea someone wanted to shoot him. It was the girl who saw the danger and stepped in to take the bullet for reasons we still don't know," Athena argued, trying to make her point. But it felt futile, as Mr. Smith had already bribed the police.

"You're not there, but my second daughter saw it. He hugged her as soon as he saw the gun aimed at him," Mr. Smith said, and Carter gasped.

Realizing they were trying to frame him with false information, Carter opened his mouth to deny it, but Mrs. Smith interrupted.

"You said we don't care about our daughter, but you'll see just how much we love her when your brother spends his life in prison for what he did to her," she said, and Isabella smirked with satisfaction.

Things were going the way she wanted, and she was the one who had made up the lie to her parents about Carter hugging Gabriella when he saw the gun target. She couldn't help but feel a sense of happiness.

"But have Mom and Dad already found out? They seem to be blocking every avenue for the truth to come out. Are they trying to protect me? Do they already know and are just playing along?" Isabella pondered, but she quickly shook off the thought.

"No, it can't be. There's no way they'll find out," Isabella thought to herself as she contemplated what she would do if Gabriella managed to survive.

"If she did survive, then I have no choice but to kill her again. She might expose the fact that Carter never hugged her, and I need Carter to go into prison instead of me," Isabella smiled wickedly at the thought, especially as the police were about to handcuff Carter, which only made her even...

Smiled wider, knowing that nobody was watching her.

"Let go of him! You're accusing him of something he didn't do!" Rosalie yelled as she and Athena tried to stop the police from handcuffing Carter, who was already in tears.

"Stop!" a voice shouted from behind just as the police were about to succeed in handcuffing Carter. They halted immediately at the sound of the voice.

Everyone turned to see Cameron standing a short distance away, his eyes burning with anger.