His words lit a spark in my father’s fury, igniting it into a roaring blaze.
“You dare call yourself her brother?” my father bellowed, his voice echoing through the hall. “Do you even recognize her as your sister? Before I left, I entrusted her to you, told you to care for her. This is how you fulfill that duty?”
Michael, emboldened by Second’s defiance, muttered under his breath, “Jessica is our sister too. Savannah bullies her, mistreats the servants, and acts arrogant. Why should we care for someone like her?”
Logan quickly added, “Exactly! If she hadn’t been so cruel to Jessica, we wouldn’t have been angry, She’s been away for years, and now she carries herself like a commoner. Jessica, on the other hand, has the grace and poise of a true lady. Letting her act as the Duke’s daughter was for the sake of the family’s reputation!”
Their words reignited memories I had tried to bury–the endless humiliation, the cold indifference, and the outright malice I had endured since my retion.
For the past year, Jessica had made my life a living hell.
I remembered the freezing pond in the dead of winter, where I had been pushed under the lay water. The pitch–black cellar where I had been locked for days without food. The spoiled food I’d been forced to eat, leaving me doubled over in pain for hours.
And yet, I had once adored these brothers. As a child, they had teated me as their precious little sister, doting on me as if I were their entire world.
What poison had Jessica fed them to make them hate me so deeply?
To the point where they would willingly take my life?
10.59 AM
<
My father’s anger reached its peak as he watched them speak in unison, their words sharp and cutting. slammed his hand down on a nearby table.
The table shattered instantly, splinters flying in every direction.
a sudden burst of rage, he
The room fell into an oppressive silence, the only sound the nervous gulping of those too afraid to speak.
“Jessica?” my father boomed, his voice cutting through the tension. “What is she to you, that you would go this far to protect her? Have you all forgotten? She was nothing but a stand–in I brought in at your request! And now, you harm Savannah for her? Have you all lost your minds?”
His furious gaze turned to Jessica, who shrank back and visibly trembled, her composure unraveling.
colder th
“You” my father growled, his tone than the winter frost. “If not for the faint resemblance you share with Savannah, I would never have taken you in. Without my charity, you’d still be scrubbing floors in some backwater village. Not only are you ungrateful, but you dare to harm my daughter? Unforgivable.”
The shift in the room was immediate.
“She’s just a foster child? And she had the audacity to parade around as the Duke’s daughter?”
“Unbelievable. I can’t believe I wasted my sympathy on her. If the Duke punched me into the ground right now, I wouldn’t even be mad. She tricked us ali
“Honestly, it’s these so–called brother’s who are to blame. Swapping identities like that? How bold can they get?”
Jessica’s face turned an ashen gray as the whispers grew louder. Her lips trembled, and it took her several long moments to stammer out a reply to my father.
“Father,” she began, her voice quivering. “You’ve been gone at war for so long… perhaps you don’t know the full story. Savannah’s temperament has changed over the years. She’s jealous of the love between Wyatt and me, and she’s been taking it out on me–hitting me, tormenting me, doing everything she can to make my life miserable.”
“Who’s in love with you?”
“Who’s tormenting you?”
Wyatt and I spoke at the same time, but I shot him a glare, and he immediately clamped his mouth shut, his confidence evaporating.
I turned back to Jessica with a sneer. “You claim i bullied you, yet when I asked to examine your injuries, you refused. And don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, Charlotte,” I said, pointing toward the girl lurking in the crowd. “You thought you could stay quiet and escape blame? Too
bad–I have an excellent memory.”
Jessica and Charlotte both froze, their faces pale as ghosts. Jessica’s hand instinctively gripped Logan’s sleeve, her wide eyes filled with
panic.
My father, however, smiled down at me, his expression softening. “You are the true daughter of the Duke’s household, Savannah. Do what you
must.”
I nodded, then turned to the servants who had ignored me earlier. My voice rang out loud and clear: “Bring the screens.”
The servants, now eager to obey, moved with lightning speed, setting up the screens in a matter of moments. Their sudden enthusiasm was a stark contrast to their earlier defiance.