I remained still where I stood.
Not even for a moment did it cross my mind to obey Adriana’s absurd order to clean her shoe.
But suddenly, my body was shoved hard from behind, so forcefully that I nearly collapsed onto the floor.
I turned around with a flash of fury, glaring sharply at Adriana’s personal assistant, who had just roughly shoved my shoulder on her employer’s orders.
“Aaah!”
I screamed in pain as the sharp point of Adriana’s stiletto heel suddenly pressed down onto the back of my hand, which had touched the floor.
The woman pressed it down mercilessly.
“Who do you think you are, hm?” Adriana whispered lowly, bending down with an utterly cruel smile.
“You’re nothing but a charity case, a parasite living off the Villareal family. So no one is going to help you. Whether it’s Javier or his parents, they’ll trust my word far more than yours, Camila!”
After hurling those cruel words, Adriana simply sauntered away without another glance.
She left me alone, still slumped weakly on the floor, trying to numb the throbbing pain in my hand.
Why?
Why did my fate have to end up this miserable now?
Instead of chasing after Adriana or pleading with her, I decided to walk to the nearest pharmacy to buy medicine and bandages.
The back of my hand was slightly bleeding and scraped raw from the drag of her stiletto heel.
When the antiseptic touched the wound, the sting was so sharp it made me wince.
But believe me, the sting on my skin was nothing compared to the ache searing through my heart at that moment.
Since I no longer knew where Adriana had gone, I finally decided to simply head back to the main house.
But who would have guessed that the moment I stepped into the living room, I would be met with a sight that made my brow furrow in disbelief. New chapters come out on g.com first.
There on the sofa sat Adriana, her leg wrapped in a thin white bandage.
And there she was, sobbing and hiccupping, pretending to endure agonizing pain.
What was wrong with her?
Wasn’t her leg perfectly fine just a few hours ago—fine enough to stomp on my hand, no less?
“There she is…”
I immediately turned toward the source of the voice.
My footsteps froze instantly, replaced by fear as I saw Mama Isabella’s face glaring at me, her eyes blazing with fury.
“You, Camila! All Adriana asked was for you to help her assistant carry a few shopping bags, and instead you refused and just walked off!” Mama scolded, her voice thundering with disappointment.
“Look what happened!
Adriana ended up spraining her ankle and hurting her leg from carrying those things all by herself.
What is wrong with you?
You couldn’t even manage such a small favor?!”
”Ma, that’s not what happened.
It was Adriana who—”
”Camila, it’s all right… I’m not angry, Auntie,” Adriana cut in swiftly, her voice deliberately hoarse in the manner of someone who had been crying.
She looked at Mama Isabella with a pitiful, sweetly innocent expression.
“Maybe Camila just isn’t used to helping others, so when I asked for her help, she felt burdened by it. I’m really fine, Auntie. My assistant jumped in to help right away anyway.”
I never imagined that this whole thing was part of her rotten scheme to make me look bad in front of this family.
“Ma, but that’s not what Adriana is really like!
Back there, she was the one who—”
”That’s enough, Camila, it’s fine.
I’ve already forgiven you,” Adriana interrupted again, cutting off my sentence with a tone of feigned wisdom.
“Auntie, please don’t be angry at Camila anymore.
And Javier—I promise I won’t tell him about any of this.”
”There, you heard her yourself, didn’t you?
Adriana is so kind and good-hearted, unlike you, Camila!” Mama snapped back, cornering me mercilessly once again.
“Why? Is this actually your true nature coming out? Mama raised you for years to become a good, decent woman, so don’t you dare disappoint me. Do you understand?!”
The walls of my defense crumbled.
With my chest tight from holding back tears, I finally nodded and answered in the faintest voice.
“I understand, Ma.
I’m sorry.”
”Don’t apologize to Mama!
Go apologize to Adriana instead!
Her leg is hurt like that—what if the wound gets worse by tomorrow?” Mama ordered firmly.
I clenched both my fists tightly until my knuckles turned white.
I was certain, absolutely certain, that the snake of a woman standing before me was only pretending to be hurt.
Adriana had deliberately staged this whole cheap performance for one purpose alone—to cast me out and destroy my place in this house.