Chapter Twenty One

Amelia's POV

What was the punishment for murder, again? Because I was seriously considering murdering Jackie.

The spoilt bitch had the nerve to treat me like a freaking housemaid. She had claimed that I would be acting as everyone's assistant, yet she was the only one here who was making me serve her.

I was currently holding all the clothes she had picked out while she tried on yet another one. She took an unnecessarily long time putting it on, then she took even longer admiring herself in the mirror, only to turn around with a complaint.

"This outfit isn't right," she said. "I'm going to need a little something to spice it up…"

She hummed as she turned in a circle, tapping her bottom lip. Then she brightened up and pointed to a pair of shoes on the topmost part of a shelf.

"Get me those shoes," she said.

I looked up at the shoes, which were out of my reach by the way, then down at the armful of clothes I was holding, then at Jackie's annoying face.

"How?" I asked flatly.

She shrugged dismissively.

"I don't know," she said nonchalantly. "Find a way. You're the assistant."

I wanted to bite off her nose so that she would never show her face in public again. I wanted to grab her by her hair and shove her face into the mirror till it shattered.

But I made myself smile sweetly.

'Just you wait, bitch,' I thought.

"Sure," I said.

She looked at me expectantly, clearly waiting for me to climb up a chair or something and struggle to reach the shoes with my arms occupied by heaps of clothes. Hah. That one was only going to happen in her wildest dreams.

I stepped out of the room like a sensible human being and called in one of the staff to help.

"Thanks for your help," I said with a bright smile, knowing how much it pissed Jackie off.

She glared at me, but I did not even pretend to notice. As soon as the staff member left, she flung the shoes at the wall.

"What a pity," I said. "Now you have to pay for them."

"Shut up," she snapped.

I shrugged and didn't say anything else.

'Patience, Amelia,' I reminded myself.

Revenge was best served cold.

After shopping, Mandy suggested that we visit a pool owned by her father. Let's be real, who the hell bought public pools and privatized them? People so rich they no longer knew what to do with their money, that's who.

We changed into our bikinis, but when I tried to sit with them, Jackie held up her hand.

"Make us cocktails first," she said with a smirk, "assistant."

I smiled back, then went to make them.

I didn't mind this particular task, because during the party at the Domitia mansion, I had learnt something interesting. Jackie was allergic to grapefruits, so she liked her cocktails with pineapple juice instead.

I went ahead to prepare one with pineapple juice and the other four with grapefruit juice, knowing that Jackie was glancing my way from time to time.

Then I took the drinks to them and served each one a glass.

Then I settled into my sunbed and happily sipped my pineapple flavored cocktail.

I didn't have to wait long before Jackie cried out, her glass falling out of her hand.

Rashes had begun to appear on her neck and her face, turning her pale skin red.

"No!" she wailed in terror. "Isabella, what have you done?"

All eyes turned to me, and I raised my hands.

"I didn't do anything!" I exclaimed. "And look, we should be helping her right now. Everything else can wait till later."

"You're right," Mandy said. "I'll drive her home. Does anyone remember if she brought her drugs?"

"There's one," Ray said shakily. "It's a syringe. In h- her bag…"

Angela found it and injected her with it. Jackie had been clutching her throat and gasping for air, but a while later, she calmed down and passed out. The rest of us helped Mandy put her in Mandy's car.

"I'll catch you guys later," she said with a wave, before driving off.

Ray and Angela turned to look at me. I looked back at them.

"What?" I asked.

"You gave her a drink with grapefruit juice in it," Ray accused.

I blinked at her, looking exactly like a confused person.

"I did?" I asked. "That can't be right. I'm sure I made her one with pineapple juice."

"Yes, but you didn't give it to her," Ray replied.

"I didn't?"

"Ugh!" she said, throwing her hands up. "So, what, you mixed it up? I'm supposed to believe that?"

"Are you suggesting that I'm lying?" I said. "That's not fair, Ray. I know I don't get along with Jackie, but hurting her isn't my thing. You know it isn't."

Ray looked undecided, but she didn't drop it.

"But…" she said, "but it was you that gave her the drink."

"You're saying this is my fault?" I replied, letting my voice shake.

Ray started to say something, but cut herself off at the sight of tears blooming in my eyes.

"You can't just accuse me like that just because I made the cocktails, it's really not fair," I added. "I made a mistake, and I'm really sorry, but for you to suggest that I would do such a thing on purpose..."

Ray was gaping at me, looking uncertain and more than a little surprised. I didn't see what she was being surprised about.

I learnt this killer move of crying when you need to from her, after all.

"Let it go, Ray," Angela said, putting one arm around my shoulders.

Ray opened and closed her mouth a few times, but couldn't say anything else.

"I'm sorry for accusing you, Bella," she said, but she didn't look like she meant it.

Her suspicions didn't matter anyway. What mattered was how I was going to make a lasting impression on Julian during our date.