I smirked. “Let me guess, Julian. In every opportunity you’ve arranged for me, conveniently included, isn’t she?
Averil is
“I’m the lead, and she’s the backup. I appear on a show, and she’s the guest. You’re banking on me not losing my temper on camera so you can use my name to clean up hers, aren’t you? Julian, you’re absolutely pathetic.”
“Victoria Dean!” Julian’s face twisted with anger as he kicked a nearby coffee table.
Juice spilled from the glass sitting on it, threatening to stain the carpet. Averil hurried to clean up the mess.
As I glanced at the cloth in her hand, my eyes widened in shock.
“Stop!”
1/2
+25 BONUS
Chapter 19
I snatched the pink checkered rag from Averil’s startled hands, my heart pounding.
The once–pink–and–white handkerchief was now stained with yellow–gray grime, and the corner with the embroidered character “Violet” was worn through with a hole.
“Averil!” I shouted, my voice sharp with fury. “Who told you to use this as a rag?
She flinched, startled by my outburst. “What’s your problem? It’s just a rag–I grabbed whatever was nearby. Julian, look at her-”
“Victoria,” Julian cut in coldly. “Stop making a scene.”
“Julian,” I uttered, my voice trembling with anger. “This is the handkerchief I searched for everywhere, the one I couldn’t find. Don’t tell me you don’t recognize it.”
Julian finally shifted his gaze to the fabric in my hand, pausing for a moment before responding. “I didn’t notice. Maybe you shouldn’t leave your things lying around.”
“How can you even say that?” I gripped the handkerchief tightly, my eyes blazing. “This was the handkerchief my mother embroidered for me. You saw it back then and even said you wanted to add your name next to mine. How could you not recognize it now?”
I turned my glare on Avetil. “And you! Julian forgetting it is one thing–he doesn’t have a heart. But you? Out of all the rags you could have used, you picked the one with my name on it. Don’t tell me it wasn’t on purpose!”
“Oh, come on,” Averil said with mock contrition a smug smile playing on her lips. “I really didn’t notice. If I’d known it was something your mom left you, I wouldn’t have used it as a rag. Oh wait–actually, I think I used it as a floor mat first…”
I couldn’t hold back anymore. My palm lashed out, slapping her across the ce.
“Aah! Julian, help me!”
Pain seared through my scalp as my hair was yanked, and the next thing I knew, I was thrown back with such force that the flowerpot in my arms shattered on the ground.
Julian stepped past me, wrapping his arms protectively around the weeping Averil. “Victoria, so what if that rag was something your murderer of a mother left behind? It’s just a rag. Using it as one is fitting.”
My mind exploded, the words echoing like a deafening roar.
With one hand clutching the torn handkerchief and the other gripping a jagged piece of the broken flowerpot, only one thought consumed me, “Die! They both deserve to die!”
