Terrified, Lily flinched and stepped back, her eyes wide with fear.
I had told Richard about my surgery. Clearly, he had forgotten.
“Ma’am, that’s wrong of you,” Vanessa jumped in. “Teaching a child to lie? No wonder Richard’s angry.”
“Bad woman! Bad woman!” Lily cried, trembling with rage. She didn’t have the words, but she knew Vanessa was cruel.
“Shut up!” Richard roared again, glaring at me. “So you speak ill of Vanessa in front of Lily too? With such a poisonous tongue, how can you call yourself a Hayes wife? I should never have let you raise her. If Lily had grown up with Vanessa, she’d never have learned to lie.”
Vanessa’s eyes sparkled—she clearly thought she was about to replace me.
“Daddy, don’t listen to that bad woman!” Lily sobbed. “I’m not lying. If you don’t believe me, look at Mommy’s leg!”
But Richard refused to listen.
“Drag this girl aside. Let her watch and learn what happens to those who break the rules.”
“It’s scorching hot! You’d let Lily stand out here in the sun?” I cried.
He glanced at Lily’s pale face but was too blinded by rage.
“Enough. Climb, or else—”
The unfinished threat was clear enough.
I dared not argue further, terrified he might turn his fury on Lily.
So I staggered forward, every step heavier than the last.
Richard’s lips curled into a satisfied smirk at my obedience.
Within minutes, sweat soaked through my clothes.
The sun blazed like an oven, my head spinning, nausea rising in my throat.
Suddenly my right leg gave way again, and I fell, my mouth slamming against the ground.
Blood smeared across my lips, brighter than the carpet on our wedding day.
My unhealed wound tore open, blood soaking through my white dress.
The guards paled with horror.
Richard leapt to his feet at last, his face betraying real panic.
Lily broke free and ran to my side, sobbing. She turned toward Richard Hayes and cried out, “Daddy! Mommy’s mouth and leg are bleeding—please take her to the hospital!”
Her little face was full of panic.
Richard was about to speak when Vanessa Moore interjected first, “Yes, send her to the hospital. This blood looks just like spilled paint—it’s frightening.”
She pretended to defend me, but in truth, she was hinting that I was faking it.