Chapter 7

I didn't cry. I started to laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" My reaction infuriated my father. He raised the whip again. "It seems one lash wasn't enough!"

Just as he was about to strike again, I lunged for Laura. Her eyes widened in terror as I grabbed her and shoved her, hard, right over the edge of the staircase.

"AHHH—!" Laura let out a bloodcurdling scream as she tumbled down the stairs, her body bouncing off the steps before her head hit the wall at the bottom. She went limp and passed out.

Ignoring the fire on my back, I smiled. "That push? Yeah, that was all me."

My stepmother shrieked.

My father was shaking with rage. "Get out! Get out of my house! From this day on, you are no longer my daughter!"

I had already seen his true colors. It didn't even hurt. "Good. I don't want to be your daughter!"

He had his guards throw me out, tossing my suitcase after me.

Just then, the sky opened up. Cold rain soaked me to the bone. The whip-lash on my back stung like a thousand needles. My temperature started to rise, my head spun, and my legs felt weak.

I dragged my heavy suitcase through the rain, my vision blurring. Finally, I couldn't go on. I collapsed on the cold, wet street.

Sometime later, I vaguely felt a pair of strong arms lift me and place me in a warm car. The heater brought some feeling back to my frozen body.

When I woke up again, I was in a bedroom I didn't recognize, in an unfamiliar mansion.

"You're awake?"

I turned my head and saw Edmund, dabbing ointment on the wound on my back. He was surprisingly gentle, his movements practiced, as if he'd tended to wounds like this many times.

"How did you get this?" he asked, his brow furrowed.

I gave him a cold smile. "If I said Laura did it, would you believe me?"

Edmund paused, then automatically defended her. "That's impossible. She's always so gentle and kind..."

I let out a bitter laugh and said nothing more. It was the answer I expected.

Just then, the doorbell rang. The butler entered. "Don Schroder, Miss Rosetti is here. She says she's come to take the Signora home."

"Don't call me that," I cut him off. "We're not married yet."

The butler froze. Edmund's face grew even darker.

"Edmund..." Laura stood in the doorway, pale, a bandage wrapped around her head. She looked incredibly weak. "Father kicked my sister out, and I was so worried... Even though she pushed me into the fountain, and then down the stairs... we're still sisters. I couldn't just leave her out there. I came to take her home..."

The performance was so sickening I almost threw up. I pushed myself up, ignoring the searing pain in my back.

"Save the act. It's disgusting."

"Alessia!" Edmund glared at me. "Laura is here out of concern for you after everything you've done to her, and this is how you treat her?"

"Concern?" I laughed coldly. "She wishes I was dead."

"You are unbelievable!" Edmund pointed a finger at me. "Apologize to Laura now!"

"In your dreams!"

Edmund lost it. He strode over to drag me, and Laura theatrically tried to get between us. In the scuffle, she stumbled backward into a heavy bookshelf.

As the shelf teetered, about to fall, Edmund instinctively dove for Laura, who was closer. He wrapped his arms around her, shielding her with his back as the massive piece of furniture came crashing down.

On the other side, I couldn't get out of the way in time. The corner of the shelf slammed down on my right hand. A gut-wrenching pain shot up my arm.

"Ah—!" I screamed, feeling the bones crush.

I stared at my mangled, bloody hand, but the pain in my heart was worse. This was my racing hand... my most prized possession.

Forgetting our fight, I looked at Edmund, pleading. "Please, get me to a hospital. My hand..."

Edmund's face changed. He started to move toward me, but Laura's weak voice stopped him. "Edmund... my head hurts so much..." she whimpered. "But... sister's hand looks really bad. She loves racing so much. Her hand is everything to her..."

Hearing that, Edmund's expression became complicated. Finally, his eyes grew cold. He turned, scooped Laura into his arms, and strode out of the room.

Before he left, he looked back at me and said, "This is what you get for hurting Laura. As for your hand... the wife of the Don has no business racing cars anyway."