She flounced to the sofa while I crouched to wipe up the spilled honey, my hands and knees raw from the floor. Every touch stung, but I didn’t let it show. I even lifted her feet gently to clean beneath them.
"Go back."
Alaric spoke suddenly, tossing her clothes toward her.
"Alaric?"
"You’re not needed here anymore."
Arianne pouted but obeyed. She dressed, picked up the designer handbag Alaric had bought her, and walked out with one last resentful glance my way.
I stayed on the floor, unmoving.
Not because I didn’t want to get up—
but because my scraped knees made it too painful to try.
"You still have nothing to say?"
Alaric’s voice was ice.
I said nothing.
He ground his teeth in frustration.
"It’s just the two of us. No cameras, no microphones. So speak."
I nodded slowly. "I know."
With a snarl, he tossed aside his cigarette, grabbed my neck again, and shoved a photo in front of me.
"You and I both know he’s the murderer. So why won’t you testify? What’s your connection to him?"
I stared at the face in the photo and gave a bitter smile.
"I don’t know him."
"Then why are you protecting him?"
I met his fury head-on.
"I’m not."
He shoved me to the ground. Pacing like a caged animal, he snapped:
"My sister treated you like family. Didn’t she?"
The mention of Seraphine twisted something in my chest.
"She was the best friend I ever had," I whispered.
He knelt and grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him.
"And this is how you repay her? By letting the man who killed her walk free?"
I was speechless.
Furious, Alaric flung a photo onto the floor. It landed face up—
Seraphine, broken and bloodied, hung lifeless from a tree. Her body, once full of laughter and warmth, was now twisted with bruises and gashes.
The sight made me scream. I covered my eyes, my entire body trembling.
That image had haunted my nightmares for months.
“You can’t even look at her,” Alaric spat. “Then tell me what that bastard did to her!”
He grabbed my chin and forced me to meet his eyes.
“I swear, Elysia—testify, and I’ll send Arianne away. Right now.”
My eyes burned with unshed tears, but I gave him a cold smile.
“No need.”
His grip froze on my shoulder.
“You’d rather watch me with her? Watch us, again and again, like some sick punishment?”
“It’s okay.”
Pa!
His palm cracked across my face.
His fist shook with fury.
“You’re disgusting, Elysia,” he growled. “You’re a goddamn bitch!”
His words cut deeper than the slap ever could.