“There’s no time to waste, Vanessa,” Mr.
Voss reminded her with a smirk.
“Your grandmother’s treatment needs to be paid, or don’t you want that anymore?”
At this point, Vanessa knew there was nothing she could do to convince them otherwise.
Her father was right.
There was no time, but washing Noelle’s feet and drinking the water…
That sounded like something she would rather get a beating over than ever do.
Her jaws tightened as the tears suddenly stopped streaming down her face.
She moved closer to the bowl, her heart racing.
If she did this, there was no turning back.
She would become a puppet for them to use however they deemed fit.
Reaching down, Vanessa washed Noelle’s feet as she had been ordered, her hands moving along her legs.
It continued for a few minutes while they laughed at her, as if they had just proved something.
Well, they had.
They had just proved that Vanessa was beneath them, even though she was a part of this family.
They had never treated her as such.
Instead, they left her wondering if she was truly related to them by blood.
“Now, drink it,” Noelle ordered.
Vanessa heard the servants giggle as though they couldn’t wait for her to completely embarrass herself.
Her family heard them, but they didn’t send them back to their quarters.
They simply allowed them to stay and watch her do the unspeakable.
With a clenched heart, Vanessa picked up the bowl of dirty water, her stomach curling in disgust even though she hadn’t drunk it yet.
Silence filled the room for a moment as everyone anticipated what would happen next.
Vanessa opened her mouth and downed the dirty water.
The entire time, she reminded herself that she was doing it for her grandmother.
For her health.
For her to stay alive.
Those were the only reasons.
“Ewwww…” Noelle recoiled when she saw that the bowl was empty.
Vanessa had finished everything.
“I can’t believe you actually drank all of it.
You must be really desperate to help our grandmother.”
Then she laughed, the sound making Vanessa’s jaw tick with anger. Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
Vanessa didn’t say anything.
She didn’t utter a single word.
She simply stared at the ground, her heart heavy with a promise.
She had been embarrassed all her life.
Her inheritance had been snatched away from her.
She had to drink her older sister’s dirty water to save her grandmother’s life.
She had been cheated on by her boyfriend.
Vanessa slowly looked up at Noelle, her eyes filled with a kind of anger they had never seen on her face before.
Her hands were balled into tight fists, her stomach churning from the disgusting water she had just swallowed.
Noelle kicked Vanessa to the ground.
“What are you looking at?”
Vanessa said nothing.
She forced herself to stand on her own two feet before turning toward her father.
“I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me.
I drank Noelle’s…” Her tongue caught, and she couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.
“Now, can you pay for Grandmother’s hospital bills?”
Mr.
Voss stared at her, disgust written all over his face.
Vanessa was never a true Voss.
He knew that because a true Voss always stepped on people.
They would even step on people who had fallen into the mud just because of their ego and pride.
But Vanessa?
She had easily allowed her older sister to make her wash her feet and drink the water.
“I’ll pay the hospital bills,” he answered.
Instantly, Vanessa’s shoulders slumped in relief.
She completely forgot what she had gone through to make him agree.
“But on one condition.”
Her heart almost flew out of her chest.
She resisted the urge to glare at him.
After all, he still hadn’t paid the hospital bills.
Don’t cause any ruckus on that day, and follow every single one of my orders.
Do you understand me?” he demanded, his eyes filled with so much hostility that she was only beginning to take notice of it.
With a stiff nod, she answered, “Yes, Father.”
Somewhere else…
Matteo watched the CCTV footage showing what had happened a few hours earlier at the ice cream shop.
He watched with intense focus.
A man in a black hoodie, looking suspicious, had stepped into the shop and taken a seat.
When he found the perfect opportunity, he made his way toward his daughter.
He said something to her that made her eyes widen with curiosity and excitement.
It must have been when he told her that he had a big bowl of ice cream in the car that he wanted to give his daughter alone.
Right when the man was about to take Bianca away, Vanessa swooped in and saved her.
The kidnapper ran off just as Matteo walked in, and he had accused Vanessa of trying to take Bianca away instead.
“So Vanessa was telling the truth after all,” Jace commented, trying to shift the screen to the footage outside.
Matteo didn’t say anything for a long time, making his friend turn toward him, thinking he was completely lost in thought.
“What?
The cat caught your tongue?” Jace asked with an arched eyebrow.
“You just accused your soon-to-be wife of kidnapping your daughter.
Things are certainly starting off on the wrong foot here.”
“Shut up!” Matteo snapped.
“You know she’s a Voss, and that man is the greediest person I’ve ever met, second only to my grandfather.
For all I know, he sent her to kidnap Bianca and use her against me.”
“You’re not totally wrong.
Someone definitely sent that man over there to take Bianca away.
But with his face completely hidden and no car to pick him up from the scene, we don’t have anything we can use to trace him.”
Matteo’s hands balled into tight fists, his teeth gnashing together.
Someone was after him, and they wanted to get to him by using his daughter.
The worst part was that he had no idea who exactly was behind it.
Jace closed the computer and turned toward Matteo.
“So,” he cooed, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.
“How do you plan on apologizing to your Vanessa?”