She lay sprawled on the floor, weeping like some delicate flower battered by rain, as though she were the victim of some terrible injustice.
I scooped Lily into my arms. The sight of my daughter's tear-streaked little face made my heart bleed.
Lily hiccupped and wrapped her arms around my neck.
"Mommy, I didn't touch her glass. She broke it herself. And she pinched me."
I turned my head and fixed Antonia with a stare that could kill.
"What exactly are you? You think you have the right to lay a hand on my daughter?"
"If I don't skin you alive today, my name isn't Fox."
I raised the duster to strike again.
A violent force slammed into me from behind. Maxwell rushed in and shoved me aside.
"Amy, have you lost your mind?"
"Antonia is sick. How could you hit her that hard?"
He helped Antonia to her feet with painstaking care, then turned to look at me like I was his worst enemy.
I steadied myself, shielding Lily in my arms, and met his glare without flinching.
"Maxwell, are you blind? Can't you see the blood on Lily's arm?"
He didn't spare Lily so much as a glance. All his attention went to gently wiping the tears from Antonia's face.
"Kids bump into things all the time. Antonia's fragile. You could've killed her hitting her like that."
"Apologize to her. Now."
I laughed. The kind of laugh that shook through my whole body.
"Maxwell, you want me to apologize to her? Over my dead body."
"From today on, it's either her or me in this house."
His expression darkened until it looked like a storm about to break.
"Amy, stop being unreasonable."
"Antonia's condition can't wait. At the charity gala next week, I'm going to formally announce that I'm taking her in as my sworn sister."
"At the same time, I'll announce that you're donating bone marrow to her. Consider it good karma."
"If you dare cause a scene at the gala, don't blame me for what happens next."
I stared at this man I'd shared a bed with for five years. He felt like a complete stranger.
"Maxwell, who do you think you are? God?"
"What you announce has nothing to do with me. Without my signed consent, no doctor on this earth would dare touch me."
Antonia nestled into Maxwell's arms and let out two feeble coughs.
"Max, don't pressure Amy. She's always hated me."
"I'll just stop treatment. Let me go be with my sister underground. I'm nothing but a burden anyway."
Maxwell tightened his arms around her, his voice aching.