Fake Sickness, Real Consequences

There were no windows in the attic. Only a dim yellow bulb hung overhead, its light catching countless specks of dust floating in the air.

I was thrown onto the floor. Dirt clung to the open wounds on my knees, and I curled in on myself in pain.

The door locked with a click. From outside, Helena’s voice drifted in, clear through the wooden panels. “Luca, don’t be too harsh on Eva. What if she starves?”

“She brought this on herself.” Luca’s voice was cold and flat, completely emotionless. “When she admits her mistake, she’ll get to eat.”

Their footsteps grew distant. The attic fell silent.

I pressed a hand against the wall, trying to push myself up. However, the moment I put weight on my legs, pain stabbed deep into my knees.

The skin had already been scraped raw when they dragged me earlier. Blood stuck to my torn pants, tearing painfully with every movement I made.

I had no idea how long had passed before the lock suddenly clicked again.

Helena wheeled herself inside, holding a steaming porcelain bowl of soup.

She set the bowl on the floor and smiled gently. “Eva, I sneaked some soup in for you. Go on, drink it.”

However, I didn’t move and kept my gaze fixed on her. “What’s your game this time?”

“I just want to make peace,” she sighed, reaching toward me as if to help. “Maybe I remembered what happened wrongly back then. Don’t hate Luca. He’s only worried about me.”

I turned my head away from her hand. Before I could process anything else, I heard a crash.

The bowl shattered on the floor, spattering my pant leg with soup remains.

Helena jerked back instantly, her face draining of color. “Eva! How could you push me…”

The door slammed open.

Luca stormed in, eyes blazing the moment he saw the broken pieces and Helena’s pale face.

He crossed the room in seconds and slapped me hard.

The sharp crack echoed through the attic.

Half my face went numb, and a metallic taste filled my mouth as blood seeped from the corner of my lips.

“You dare push her?” He grabbed my collar and yanked me off the ground, choking me.

“Helena brought this for you out of kindness, and this is how you treat her?”

“She dropped it herself!” I struggled. The pain in my face was nothing compared to the cold settling in my heart. “Look carefully! There’s nothing near her wheelchair that could support me to stand up! How could I have touched her?”

“I saw you dodge her hand!” Luca roared, then shouted toward the door, “Bring the whip!”

A guard appeared almost instantly, handing over a leather whip tipped with metal spikes. It glinted under the attic light.

Luca took it, eyes sharp with fury. “Since you refuse to admit your wrongs, then you’ll learn through pain what you can and cannot do.”

The first strike landed across my back. My clothes tore open, and searing pain shot through every nerve, burning its way down my spine.

My whole body trembled, but I forced my head up. “Luca! Are you blind? She’s been lying to you all this time!”

“Still arguing?”

The second whip hit harder. I felt warm blood spread across my torn nightdress.

I bit my lip, refusing to give him the satisfaction of hearing me cry out. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Helena sitting in her wheelchair, her mouth curled in a tiny, smug smile.

The moment she noticed my gaze, she quickly masked it with a worried expression. “Luca, stop! You’ll kill her if you keep going!”

“She won’t die.” Luca didn’t even pause to land a third strike across my arm. “Today she’s going to learn what happens when she upsets you!”

A broken laugh scraped out of my throat, flecked with blood. “Luca, you’ll never know the truth in this lifetime. You’ll stay fooled by her forever, living inside her lies!”

He hesitated for a split second.

Something flickered in his eyes before anger swallowed it whole again.

He tossed the whip to the guard. “Keep going. Stop only when she apologizes.”

The lashes kept falling until the pain blurred into fog, but I never said the words he wanted.

I wasn’t wrong. Why should I apologize?