16

I froze for a fraction of a second, the blood draining completely from my face. Without a single word, I snatched my dropped scarf from the floor, spun on my heel, and sprinted back inside the restroom. My hands shook so violently that it took me three agonizing tries to slide the heavy metal bolt into place, locking myself securely inside the narrow toilet stall.

I leaned my back against the locked door, my chest heaving as I tried to quiet my ragged breathing. I had turned away so quickly, moving on pure survival instinct, that I hadn't even stayed to check if her eyes had locked onto my face. *Please, let her have been distracted,* I prayed silently, pressing my palms against my throbbing temples. *Maybe she only caught a glimpse of my hair. Maybe she didn't see me clearly because of how fast I spun around.* My mind raced in circles, filled with a mixture of terror and disbelief. Of all the moments, of all the hundreds of women attending this massive summit, why did Veronica have to choose this exact minute to use the exact same restroom?

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to force a sense of calm into my panicked brain. Even if she suspected something was off about the girl who bumped into her, there was no way for her to know which specific stall I had hidden inside. The best plan was to sit completely still and wait it out. I would count to a hundred, wait until the sound of her high heels faded down the corridor, and then sneak back to the VIP section under Michael's protection.

But the terrifying thought remained: if she caught even a glimpse of my profile, she would know I was alive. That was the one thing I couldn't allow to happen. If Stefan found out I survived the fall, this whole place would become a hunting ground. I had to desperately hope that even if she noticed a resemblance, she would keep it to herself and not run straight to him with the news. I also had to put my faith in Michael. He had promised that nothing would happen to me while he was around, and right now, his strength was the only shield I had left.

By this point, my entire body was trembling from the non-stop adrenaline. My blood pressure had to be through the roof, and the repeated panic attacks were leaving me physically exhausted. Every single time I thought the situation couldn't get any worse, a new horror landed right in my lap.

I stood in the suffocating silence of the stall, counting the agonizing seconds as they ticked by on the wall clock. I stayed frozen for about ten long minutes, straining my ears to catch any sound from the main area of the restroom. Gradually, the ambient noise died down completely. No running water, no rustling paper towels, no heavy footsteps. A wave of profound relief washed over me, and I finally let out a long, deep breath, my shoulders sagging. *Thank God,* I thought, leaning my head against the door. *What a complete and total hell of a day.*

Believing the coast was entirely clear, I slowly slid the metal bolt back. I pushed the stall door open, stepping out into the main room—and my heart stopped dead in my chest.

Veronica was standing right there, leaning casually against the wall with a cruel, twisted smile playing on her lips. She hadn't left at all.

Before a scream could even form in my throat, her hand shot out with terrifying, supernatural speed. She gripped the front of my dress and threw me across the room with immense force. I sailed through the air like a rag doll, my body flying backward until I crashed violently into the heavy porcelain sinks against the opposite wall. The impact was deafening. The sheer force of the collision shattered two of the sinks into jagged pieces, and a sharp, blinding agony exploded across my lower back.

I collapsed onto the wet tile floor, gasping for air that wouldn't come. My body had barely even begun to heal from the horrific injuries of my previous fall, and I was still forcing myself to walk through sheer willpower alone. This new impact felt like the final blow. A sickening crack echoed in my ears, and for a terrifying second, my legs felt completely numb, as if my spinal cord had finally snapped in two under the pressure.

My head spun violently, the bright bathroom lights blurring into streaks of white. For a long moment, the entire world went completely silent, replaced by a loud, high-pitched whistling noise ringing deep inside my ears. I struggled to lift my chin, blinking through the tears of pain, only to see her marching toward me again with a cold, predatory look in her eyes.

She reached down, grabbing me roughly by the ankles. She dragged my heavy, broken body across the wet floor, pulling me back into the large disabled toilet stall and slamming the door shut, locking the two of us inside the confined space.

Veronica grabbed a handful of my hair, yanking my head back with enough force to tear the strands from my scalp. She forced me down toward the toilet bowl. Looking down, horror gripped my stomach; whoever had used the toilet before us hadn't even bothered to flush it, leaving a foul, yellowish liquid swirling at the bottom. She lowered my face closer and closer to the rim, determined to shove my head straight into the filth.

"Wait!" I screamed, my voice cracking with absolute terror as I clawed desperately at her wrists, trying to twist away from the bowl. "Stop! Why are you doing this to me? What did I ever do to you to deserve this?"

Veronica paused for a fraction of a second, her grip tightening until my scalp burned. She leaned down, her hot breath brushing against my ear as a dark smirk spread across her face. "You did everything to me," she hissed, her voice dripping with years of buried hatred. "You took absolutely everything away from me. You stole the life that belonged to me."

I shook my head violently, crying out as the movement pulled at my hair. "I don't even know who you are!" I sobbed, the tears streaming down my cheeks. "I didn't even know you existed until you started fucking my husband behind my back!"

A sharp, mocking laugh bubbled up from her chest, the sound echoey and hollow inside the small stall. She pulled my head back another inch, forcing me to look directly into her eyes, which were filled with a twisted sense of triumph.

"Oh, that is where you are completely wrong," Veronica whispered, her smile widening into a terrifying, manic grin as she stared down at my pale face. "You really do forget things easily, don't you..."

She leaned closer, her eyes flashing with a dangerous, familiar light.

"...Sister."