Alannah hit the floor hard. Pain exploded through her back, and she felt warmth spreading rapidly beneath her.
“H-Help… me…” she gasped weakly, reaching toward Quincy.
But he didn’t even look at her. Instead, his eyes were fixed on Pearl, whose hand had been nicked by a falling shard of crystal.
“Pearl, are you okay?” he asked urgently, panic flooding his voice.
Paramedics rushed in soon after, but Quincy stopped them. “Doctor, Pearl fainted! Take her to the hospital first!”
The doctor frowned. “Sir, the woman hit by the chandelier is in critical condition—”
“I said treat her first!” Quincy snapped. “If you don’t, your hospital might as well shut down.”
After a long hesitation, the doctor could only have Pearl carried into the ambulance.
As Alannah’s vision dimmed, she caught one last glimpse of Quincy’s cold and indifferent eyes.
Just like that, her heart plummeted to the bottom of a dark abyss.
And with that final ache of despair and disbelief, she blacked out.
When she opened her eyes again, Pearl’s smug face was the first thing she saw.
A bandage was wrapped around the younger woman’s arm. In her hand, she toyed with the opal pendant that had once belonged to Alannah’s mother.
Alannah tried to sit up, but the pain in her back made her gasp.
When Pearl saw her awake, her lips curled as she said lightly, “I only got a few cuts from the glass, but Quincy was so worried. You, on the other hand, hurt like that, and he didn’t even bother to visit. Seriously, Alannah, don’t you think that’s pitiful?”
Alannah’s expression didn’t waver. Her tone was calm and cold.
“Dear, the only reason Quincy treats you well is because you look exactly like your sister.”
The words struck a nerve. She suddenly stood up, her face twisting with a cold smile.
“So what? At least I’m not like you—a pathetic woman who can’t win his heart!”
As soon as she said that, she yanked the pendant from her neck. “Ahhh, my hand hurts so much!” she mocked, and before Alannah could stop her, she hurled it to the floor.
The opal pendant shattered into pieces.
Ignoring the pain, Alannah knelt, gathering the fragments one by one, her fingers slightly trembling.
Pearl watched with a satisfied sneer. “Cheap keepsake for a cheap woman. I’d never lower myself to keep something like that.”
Alannah slowly rose to her feet, her gaze hardening. The next moment, her hand cracked across Pearl’s face.