Chapter 6. Accused and Condemned

They left, their laughter echoing down the hallway. I lay there for a moment, my body trembling, my heart shattered into a million pieces.

But I forced myself to get up, to keep moving. I cleaned the hall, scrubbing until my hands bled, refusing to give up.

I would endure. I would survive.

And one day, I would make them all pay for this…But before I would even nurse the ideal of revenge in my mind, something worst happened…

It started with a missing bracelet. A delicate gold chain with ruby stones, a gift from Kaden to Lila.

I was scrubbing the floors in the main hall when the accusation came. Lila’s shriek echoed through the house, her voice full of outrage. “My bracelet! It’s gone! Someone stole it!”

I looked up just as she stormed in, her eyes blazing with fury. She was surrounded by her friends, all of them glaring at me as if I were the culprit.

I lowered my head, my heart pounding. I hadn’t seen her bracelet. I hadn’t even been near he