Chapter 3

"Daniel, my face," Olivia cried, touching her cheek delicately. "Will it scar? Will I be disfigured?"

Her voice was full of pathetic, manufactured fear.

Martha and David immediately rushed to her side, cooing and comforting her, their faces etched with worry.

"Don't worry, sweetie, we'll get you to the best doctor," David said, his arm around her shoulders.

Daniel moved. I remembered a time I had collapsed from low blood sugar right in front of him. He hadn't even reached out a hand to help me. He had just stood there and called for a maid.

But now, for Olivia, he moved like lightning. He swept her up into his arms, his face a grim, protective mask, and carried her toward the door.

"We're going to the hospital," he announced to the room.

My father glanced back at me, his face heavy with disappointment. That look hurt more than the slap.

I had to follow them. I had to make them listen. I ran out of the brightly lit mansion into the dark garden.

But something blocked my path.

A huge, snarling dog stood in the middle of the stone path, its teeth bared. A low growl rumbled in its chest.

My blood ran cold.

When I was a child, Olivia had locked me in a shed with a neighbor's aggressive dog. The terror of that day had never left me. I was deeply, pathologically afraid of dogs. My adoptive parents knew this. They had gone to great lengths to ensure there were never any dogs on their property.

But Olivia was back. And it seemed their concern for my well-being had been forgotten.

The dog lunged.

It tore at the hem of my dress, its teeth ripping the delicate fabric. I screamed and fell backward onto the damp grass. Then, more shapes emerged from the darkness. Two more dogs, then three, surrounded me, their barks echoing in the night.

My skin broke out in hives. My throat started to close up. I couldn't breathe.

"Help!" I gasped, clawing at my neck. "Dad! Mom! Daniel!"

I could see their car pulling away at the end of the long driveway. The red tail lights disappeared into the darkness. No one turned back. No one heard me.

The world started to spin. Just before I blacked out, I thought I heard a voice call my name, urgent and sharp.

My mind plunged into a delirious memory. I was a child again, sinking in the cold water of the deep end of the pool. Olivia had pushed me. I couldn't swim. I was drowning.

But then, a figure had dived in. Daniel. He had pulled me out, his arms strong around me. He was my hero that day, a god-like figure who had saved me.

But this time, he didn't save me. He left me.

I woke up in a hospital room. My whole body ached. My arms and legs were wrapped in bandages where the dogs had scratched and bitten me.

A voice drifted from the next room. Olivia's voice.

"I'm just so worried about Sarah," she was saying, her tone dripping with fake concern. "I hope she's okay. It was just a silly argument."

Then I heard my mother's voice. "It's not your fault, dear. Sarah has always been difficult."

And Daniel's. "Don't worry about her. Just rest."

That was it. The final, crushing realization. No matter what I did, no matter how much I suffered, I would never be enough. They would never choose me.

I got up, my body protesting with every move, and walked out of the hospital. I went home alone.

I was in my room, packing a small bag, when the door opened. It was Daniel.

His eyes scanned my bandaged arms, a flicker of something unreadable in his expression. But then his gaze landed on the diamond brooch, which I had picked up from the floor after Olivia dropped it. It was still in my hand.

His face hardened instantly.

"So it was you," he said, his voice cold as ice. He snatched the brooch from my hand and walked to the window. "You're full of malice, Sarah."

He threw it out into the darkness of the garden.

He turned back to me. "I will still honor our engagement," he said, as if he were granting me a great favor. "But I am warning you. Do not hurt Olivia again."

I felt nothing. The pain had been so great it had burned itself out, leaving only a cold, empty exhaustion.

"It doesn't matter," I said, my voice flat. "The engagement is off."

Before I could say another word, his phone rang. He answered it immediately.

"Daniel?" It was Olivia's voice, small and pained, coming through the phone. "The nurse is gone. Can you come put my medicine on for me? It hurts."

Daniel's entire demeanor changed. His voice became gentle, soothing. "Of course. I'll be right there. Don't move."

He hung up and walked out of my room without another glance in my direction.

The gentleness in his voice, a tone he had never once used with me, was the final blow. I wiped a tear from my cheek, a tear of pure, bitter clarity. His favoritism was never a secret. I was just too foolish to see it.