Fake Sickness, Real Consequences

When I woke up, I was on a hospital bed, wrists strapped tightly to the rails.

Luca sat beside the bed, staring at me with a grim expression.

“Awake?” he said coldly. “Helena said you tried to kill her and even hurt yourself to threaten her.”

My head still throbbed from where the wheelchair had slammed into me.

I looked at him, and suddenly I laughed, feeling pathetic. “You actually believe that?”

“She has proof.” He tossed his phone onto my lap. On the screen was a photo of my neck bleeding, taken from an angle that made it look exactly like self-harm.

“What else do you have to say?”

“That photo was taken by her. She pushed the wheelchair. I never even touched her!”

I tried to reach for the phone, but the restraints dug harder into my skin. “Luca, can’t you just check the security footage? There’s a camera right outside the attic!”

“It’s broken.” His tone didn’t waver one bit. “The nurse said Helena got so scared that she needs an emergency transfusion, and you two have the same blood type.”

My heart dropped, and a cold jolt shot through me. “What are you planning to do?”

“Give her your blood.” He stood and called toward the door, “Doctor, come in.”

Two doctors pushed in a medical cart, syringes and blood bags gleaming under the lights.

I stared at the needle and struggled to be released. “I’m not donating anything! She’s faking it. She doesn’t need a transfusion!”

“You don’t get to decide.” He shoved my shoulders down, pinning me with enough force to crush bone.

His stare turned vicious. “Either you behave and give the blood, or I’ll go get your brother. He’s still in school, right? It’d be real easy for the Vittori family to make a student disappear.”

My whole body froze; tears finally welled up.

This was the one threat that could break me.

After all, my brother was my only family, and he was using him against me.

I stared at Luca, voice trembling. “Luca, I’ve been with you for ten years. Even if I didn’t do much for you, I never betrayed you. How could you do this to me?”

“Do what?” He laughed coldly, eyes full of disdain. “You put Helena in a coma for ten years. Whatever you did for me would never measure.”

The doctor slid the needle into my vein. Blood flowed out immediately, filling the bag vivid red.

I stared at it, then said, “Luca, you’re going to regret this.”

“I won’t.”

He turned away, already done with me. “Once you’re finished, you go back to the attic. You’ll stay there until you’re ready to admit what you did.”

My blood kept draining out, and my face grew paler. My head spun so badly I thought I might pass out again.

I closed my eyes, and Marcus’s face suddenly flashed in my mind.

Three years ago, when Luca drove him away, he’d slipped me an address and said, “If you’re ever in danger, come find me. I’ve hidden something that can clear your name.”

The doctors finally left after the blood transfusion.

Luca was still sitting beside me, looking down at his phone. Helena had just messaged him, and his lips curved into a soft smile.

He had never once shown that gentle expression to me before.

As I stared at him, I found myself filled with determination. I had to escape and find the evidence.

Late at night, Luca fell asleep in his chair.

Quietly, I touched the shard I’d pocketed in my palm earlier, still sharp and dangerous.

I used it to saw through the rope on my wrists. Since the rope had cut deep, every movement sent a stab of pain up my arm.

Barefoot, I slipped off the bed, stepped onto the cold floor, and out of the room.

The streets outside were quiet under the streetlights.

Though my back burned and my knees throbbed, I didn’t dare stop. As long as I reached Marcus, I still had a chance to escape.

However, right when I reached an intersection, a few men in black stepped out from an alley with guns raised and pointed straight at me.

It was Helena’s men, here to finish what she had started.

…