Chapter 55
Sloane's POV
"I tried to kill you?" I stared at him in disbelief. "You're the one who grabbed me from behind!"
Footsteps thundered toward us from multiple directions. Anna appeared first, her face white with panic, followed by two other servants and a terrified Saskia, who stood frozen near the top of the stairs.
"Miss Sophia! Master Zaid! What happened?" Anna dropped to her knees beside me, checking for injuries.
"She pushed me down the stairs!" Zaid shouted, still sprawled on the floor but managing to point an accusing finger at me.
Holy shit, I could've died. The thought made my stomach drop. If I hadn't grabbed Zaid when I fell, if I'd landed wrong... That psycho little shit almost killed me.
Fear flipped to pure rage. I looked at Zaid still doing his dramatic moaning act on the floor. Without even thinking, I got up and walked straight over to him.
SMACK!
My palm cracked against his cheek so hard it echoed down the hallway. His head whipped sideways, and suddenly he wasn't whimpering anymore.
"That's what you get!" I snapped, my voice all shaky with anger.
His eyes went huge. "You bitch!" He tried to push himself up. "How dare you—"
But when he lifted his arm to swing at me, he let out this scream. His face went ghost-white, sweat popping out all over his forehead as he grabbed his arm.
"Get the doctor!" one of the servants yelled, running for the door. "Quick!"
Now Zaid was whimpering for real, holding his busted arm against his chest. He looked sick, shaking from the pain.
The servants moved us both to a sitting room to wait. Super awkward, with Zaid shooting me death glares while I sat as far away as possible. Saskia hovered near the door, unsure of what to do.
When the doctor showed up, he checked us both over pretty fast. Zaid's arm was totally broken, needed a splint and all kinds of wrapping. The guy worked around Zaid's dramatic groaning.
"The young master needs to keep this arm still for weeks," the doctor told the servants. "Rest, no heavy lifting, nothing that could make it worse."
My turn was way easier. "Miss Sophia's got some bruises and scrapes, but she's fine. Should clear up in a few days."
After the doctor left, I was ready to go crash in my room. But Zaid had other plans.
"Saskia!" he called out, still babying his broken arm. "Get me fruit. And water. Make sure it's fresh!"
Are you kidding me right now?
"What the hell?" I stared at him.
"What?" he snapped, waving his good hand toward his sister. "I'm hurt. Someone needs to take care of me."
"You've got servants!" My temper was already going off again. "Your arm's broken, not your damn legs. Why should Saskia wait on you?"
His face got all smug and superior. "Mind your own business! She's my sister. Taking care of me is what she's supposed to do."
Un-fucking-believable. This spoiled brat couldn't even bother asking the help. Had to boss around his own sister like she was his personal servant.
Before I could tell him exactly where he could stick his attitude, footsteps echoed in the hallway. Juan and Eloise walked in together, both looking like they'd already gotten the news about our little tumble.
The second Zaid spotted them, the whole performance cranked up to eleven. Louder whimpering, more pathetic moaning. He clutched that broken arm and gave them this pitiful puppy-dog look.
What a damn actor.
Juan's face was dark as thunder, looking back and forth between us. "What happened here?"
Here we go.
Zaid jumped right in. "Father, I just wanted to talk to Sophia, maybe pull her aside for a second. But she got mad and shoved me down the stairs!" His voice went all cracked and emotional. "I only grabbed her because I was falling, and we both went tumbling down."
My mouth fell open. The balls on this kid were incredible.
"That's bullshit!" I exploded, my voice cracking with anger. "Zaid tried to drag me down those stairs! I was fighting him off when we both fell!"
But Juan's face told me everything. His eyes were cold, all that disappointment and growing anger pointed straight at me.
The look in his eyes hit me. This is exactly what Sophia went through ten years ago. The same disbelief, the same willingness to believe the worst.
My chest tightened with a mixture of rage and helplessness that threatened to choke me. Here I was, telling the absolute truth about what just happened, and Juan's first instinct was to doubt me. Just like he'd doubted his eight-year-old daughter when she swore she didn't push Saskia down the stairs.
The injustice of it burned through me like acid. Zaid could lie through his teeth, put on his little victim act, and Juan would eat it up. But Sophia? The moment something went wrong, she was automatically the problem. The troublemaker. The dangerous one who couldn't be trusted.
I can't let them pin this on me. If Juan thinks I'm violent, I'll be shipped off again.
I forced myself to stay calm.
Juan waved over the servants who'd helped us up. "Did anyone see what happened?"
They all shook their heads, looking sorry. "We weren't there, sir. We just heard the noise and came running."
Zaid whipped around to look at his sister, his eyes desperate and threatening at the same time. "Father, just ask Saskia. She saw everything, didn't you?"
Eloise stepped up with her usual fake-worried act. "Maybe Sophia just lost her temper," she said. "She's been stressed out, trying to adjust to being home. Maybe we shouldn't be too hard on her for this little... accident."
The way she said it made it sound like she was cutting me slack, when really she was just confirming I was guilty as hell.
Juan turned his full attention on me, and I felt like I was facing a firing squad.
I started to defend myself again, but Juan cut me off with a sharp hand gesture.
"Zaid," he said, his voice ice-cold, "you're saying Saskia saw this whole thing?"
"Yes!" Zaid's voice got desperate. "She was right there! She saw Sophia push me!" He turned to his sister with wild eyes. "Tell him, Saskia! Tell Father what you saw!"
Juan looked at Saskia, demanding the truth.
My heart was beating so hard I thought it might explode. Everything depended on what came out of Saskia's mouth next. Juan would take both his kids' word over the girl who'd been gone for ten years.
The silence stretched forever. Zaid was staring at his sister with crazy eyes. Eloise had that fake-concerned look, probably already planning how to use my "violent episode" against me.
And Juan... Juan was waiting for the truth from the only person who'd actually seen what happened.