Chapter 58 Attempted Murder
Serena
My aunt was under the same roof as me. The woman who had made my life miserable and unbearable for years.
The woman who had taken what little peace I had and crushed it between her greedy hands.
Christabel, meanwhile, was playing the entire family like pawns on a chessboard. Saint and Sin had been forced to return to the Rivers Villa and resume their duties as the official heirs. They had no choice.
And as if the evil witch hadn’t already done enough damage, she dropped one final condition: Mrs. Hale would only be allowed back into the mansion if the three of us played her sick little game nicely for the next two weeks.
Even if we all wanted that woman dead, Mrs. Hale’s life was now hanging in the balance.
The door to my room suddenly burst open with a loud bang.
Lara stormed in, wearing the sheerest, most revealing dress I had ever seen. Her face was twisted with pure rage.
“They won’t even look at me!” she shrieked. “They won’t talk to me, they don’t even act like I exist anymore. What the hell did you do?!”
She came straight for me, arms outstretched, fingers twitching like she was dying to wrap them around my throat.
I didn’t think. I just moved.
In this house, I had quickly learned that trusting my instincts was the only way to survive.
I quickly put the bed between us, positioning myself on the opposite side while Lara stood right next to where I had been moments ago.
“What makes you think I did anything at all?” I snapped. “You seriously need to grow up. This family doesn’t need you. Forget whatever Christabel promised you, she’ll turn you into her puppet the second she gets what she wants.”
Lara’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. “You know nothing about what she promised me. You know nothing about this family. So stay the hell away from them.”
She lunged across the bed like a wild animal, her long, artificial nails curling into claws.
I didn’t duck, but I didn’t hesitate either.
My hand shot out, grabbing the heavy table lamp. I swung it with every ounce of pent-up rage and fear I carried. The base connected with the side of her head with a sickening, heavy crack.
Lara crumpled instantly. She dropped like my bedsheets on lazy mornings, fast, messy, and completely ungraceful.
Lara didn’t stir. Oh my God. This was a fucking nightmare.
I crept closer and carefully turned her head. The moment her glassy, unseeing eyes met mine, I jerked back in horror.
I had knocked her out cold. This wasn’t intentional. No one would believe me, even you wouldn't believe me, not in this house, not with everything already stacked against me.
Panic clawed up my throat as I dropped to my knees and shook her shoulders desperately.
“Lara… Lara, wake up! Wake up you fucking bitch!”
Her body was unresponsive, like she was mocking me. I bolted out of the room, my heart slamming against my ribs, and nearly collided with a female staff member hurrying up the stairs.
“Please! I need your help right now, it’s Lara. I think she’s unconscious!”
At the mention of Lara’s name, the woman moved like lightning, way too fast for someone in her forties. She rushed into the room ahead of me and froze beside the bed.
“What? She’s bleeding!” She flipped Lara over, revealing a dark pool of blood spreading beneath her head on my bedsheets.“We need to get her out of here immediately,” she said urgently. “Grab her legs. I’ll take her arms.”
Together, we lifted Lara’s limp body and carried her out of the room. My heart raced so violently I could barely breathe.
If anything happened to Lara, I would be the one blamed. I knew it in my bones.
Blood dripped steadily onto the pristine marble tiles as we struggled down the stairs, leaving a damning trail behind us.
“You’re going to jail for this,” the staff member said coldly, locking eyes with me.
“No, I won’t,” I shot back. “She attacked me first. You’re going to tell them the truth, right?”
She let out a bitter laugh. “I’m sorry, but my loyalty is to Miss Lara. If I stand by her in this, I’ll be promoted from gardener to head of house affairs.”
Then, without hesitation, she opened her mouth and screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Help! Serena attacked Lara!”
The front door burst open, and heavy boots thundered inside. Everything was happening faster than my brain could catch up.
I threw one glance over my shoulder to count six muscular men dressed in black from head to toe.
“We’ll take care of it from here,” a deep voice announced, followed by two hands grabbing my shoulders and lifting me from the spot I was standing to another, on the other side of the stairs.
Was I this light? I needed to start feeding well.
Lara was carefully transferred into the arms of one of the men who I knew drove one of the convoys.
He carried her bridal-style down the remaining stairs and out of the house.
Two members of the group followed him outside while the rest stayed behind, staring at me like they were cops and I was the suspect they were interrogating.
“How did it happen?” the tallest one asked. His teeth braces glinted as he looked straight into my eyes, suspicion written all over his face.
“She barged in—”
The gardener immediately cut me off, raising her voice over mine. “Miss Lara had a photoshoot at noon and wanted Serena’s help with the zipper of her dress. There was no other lady nearby. And–”
“Go straight to the point.”
“Erhm, She had a call, and I was bringing the phone to her when I heard a loud shriek. When I entered the room, Serena was still holding the table lamp. She had struck Miss Lara in the head with it.”
How did she even figure out I'd used the table lamp? Probably because it was on the bed when she came in, a few inches from Lara's head.
“No!” I cried desperately. “That’s not what happened! She barged into my room and lunged at me while I was still on the bed. I only grabbed the lamp when she tried to attack me!”
The men exchanged knowing looks. One of them pulled out his phone and started dialing.
“Who are you calling?” I asked, dread pooling in my stomach.“The madam of the house. We have strict instructions to call her the moment anything goes wrong.”
Madam of the house. That would be Christabel.
I clenched my fists. “I didn’t attack her first. She came at me. If she hadn’t lunged at me like that, none of this would have happened!”
The gardener rolled her eyes, smirking. “It’s not rocket science. Everyone knows you’ve hated Miss Lara from the day you stepped foot in this house. You will pay for your crimes, I assure you.”
“You’re really accusing me of this just to gain favor from her?” My voice cracked with disbelief and rising anger. “You’re willing to lie and throw me under the bus for a stupid promotion?”
The gardener scoffed, folding her arms leisurely like she could do this all day. “Save your breath, little princess. You’ll need it when you’re rotting in jail for attempted murder.”
My blood ran cold. Attempted murder. The words echoed in my head like a death sentence. My hands started trembling as the reality of the situation crashed down on me.
This wasn’t just a fight anymore. This was serious. This could destroy my life.
“I didn’t try to kill her!” I shouted, my voice breaking. “She attacked me first! I was only defending myself!”
But no one was listening. The security men stared at me with cold, judgmental eyes, while the gardener looked at me like I was nothing more than trash beneath her shoes.
In their minds, I was already guilty. The outsider. The gold-digger who had come between the twins and Lara.
Tears of frustration and fear burned my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not in front of these people who had already decided I was the villain.
I survived Christabel's worthless tests, I survived everything else after that. I would survive this one, too.