Chapter 7

THE WEIGHT OF HER SINS

Kristen sat on the edge of the bed, crutches beside her, her ankle throbbing with every shift of her weight. The pain was constant, but it was the least of her worries. It was the silence that weighed on her the most. The heavy quiet that seemed to fill the room, thick with everything left unsaid.

The door creaked open, and she didn’t even look up.

Carlo entered the room, his presence unmistakable, like a dark storm closing in. He didn’t speak right away, but his eyes were on her, watching her like she was a puzzle he was still trying to solve.

Kristen felt her blood begin to boil. She couldn’t let him walk in here, acting like he hadn’t just thrown her into the depths of a life she never wanted. She couldn’t let him think she was broken, that she’d let him get away with what he’d done.

“So,” she said, breaking the silence, her voice dripping with disdain. “Decided to show up finally?”

Carlo didn’t flinch at her tone. He crossed the room slowly, his movements deliberate, almost casual, like he had all the time in the world. “I was busy,” he said, his voice low, devoid of any remorse.

Kristen’s gaze narrowed. “Busy? Busy with what? Watching me suffer?”

He stopped in front of her, standing so close that she could feel the heat radiating off of him. But it wasn’t the heat she was feeling. It was the tension, the tight coil of rage that seemed to pulse between them.

“You think I owe you something?” Carlo asked, his voice colder now, but still controlled. “I didn’t sign up to cuddle you, Sophie.”

Kristen’s breath hitched when she heard her stepsister’s name. Sophie.

Wasn’t he aware of who he got marrried to?… didn’t madam Carolina tell him Sophie had rejected the marriage proposal and she was forced to marry him instead.

She bit back the urge to correct him.

“ I’m not Sophie” she thought, but she kept her mouth shut, scared he’d realize Carolina had deceived him. What would happen to her? To her family when he finds out about this deceit?

“Why should I check on you?” Carlo’s voice was sharp. “You’re here because of your mother. You’re here to pay for her sins.”

Kristen’s eyes flashed with fury. “You put me in this situation,” she snapped, the pain in her ankle forgotten for a moment. “You didn’t care if I was okay. You don’t care about me. You just—”

“I care enough to make you pay,” Carlo interrupted, his gaze intense now, the words coming faster. “You think you can escape the consequences of your mother’s actions? You think you can just waltz in here and pretend none of this is your fault?”

Kristen’s heart hammered in her chest. Her whole body was shaking now, a mix of anger and the terrible, suffocating feeling of being trapped. “This isn’t my fault,” she shot back. “I didn’t do anything to you.

“No,” he interrupted again, his jaw tightening. “But you’re her daughter. And that makes you guilty by blood. You are the price to be paid for what she did. And I’m making sure you understand that.”

Kristen recoiled, the words slicing through her like a blade. She had always known the contract was a payment for the dedt, but to know that he was punishing her for something that wasn’t even her fault, it twisted something inside her.

“So, what, you’re enjoying this?” She stood up abruptly, her crutches clattering to the floor. “Watching me hurt, watching me suffer for something I had no hand in?”

He stepped closer, his eyes flashing with something dark. “I don’t enjoy it,” he said, his voice low and venomous. “But you will learn. You’ll learn what it means to be part of this family. Part of this legacy. Your mother destroyed my life, and I’ll be damned if I let you get away with being her daughter.”

Kristen’s chest rose and fell with each sharp breath. Her hands balled into fists. “You really think hurting me is going to fix anything? Her voice was shaking, but she pushed through it.

Carlo’s eyes narrowed, his lips curling into a smirk. “It’s not about fixing things. It’s about teaching you your place.”

Kristen’s breath caught in her throat. She felt the tears welling up, but she refused to let them fall. She wasn’t going to give him that satisfaction.

“Every part of you—your pain, your suffering—it’s exactly what you deserve,” Carlo continued, his voice dark with purpose. “You’ll pay for everything your mother did. And I will make sure you never forget that.”

This was deeper than just the family debt. “ what did Carolina do to Carlo for him to be so cruel and unforgiving”

Kristen’s lips parted, but no words came out. Instead, she took a shaky step back, her body suddenly feeling smaller, weaker in his presence. But then something shifted.

Carlo’s hand reached out, moving so fast she almost didn’t see it. His fingers brushed her cheek gently, almost tenderly, and for a second, she froze. The touch was cold, calculated, but there was something deeper in it.

Kristen’s heart skipped a beat. She didn’t know what was happening, but there it was, a crack in the ice. For a moment, she felt something she couldn’t quite explain, something that terrified her. Something more than hatred. More than pain.

Carlo’s eyes softened just for a second, and then they hardened again. He stepped back, his hand dropping to his side.

“You think I’m doing this because I enjoy it?” His voice had dropped to a low murmur, the anger still there, but there was something else beneath it. Something darker. “I’m doing this because I have to. Your mother took everything from me, and you’re the last piece of her I can control.”

Kristen opened her mouth to speak, but no words came. She wanted to shout at him, to tell him she wasn’t Carolina’s daughter. She wasn’t Sophie. But something inside her was holding her back, making her swallow the words she desperately needed to say.

Carlo’s gaze didn’t leave her as he took a step back toward the door. “Remember your place, Sophie,” he said, his voice low and final. “I’m the one in control here. Not you.”

Kristen stood there, the silence between them deafening. Her chest was tight, her thoughts racing. But as Carlo left the room, her mind was consumed with one question.

Why was Carlo filled with so much hatred for madam Carolina?