When I first opened my eyes, the sight of Dad’s face greeted me. His brows were furrowed, jaw clenched, lips pressed together, and his eyes bore into mine sharply. And that expression was pure anger. Definitely furious.
“Dad,” I managed weakly.
He snorted. “You’ve been poisoned.”
I glanced away, staring at the ceiling. Poisoned? Well, I supposed that was true. I still felt the headache and numbness in my body. There was also a lingering taste of bitter liquid and medicine on my tongue.
“I think it’s Simmy,” I said to Dad during the silence.
I heard him sigh deeply. “Don’t accuse Simmy. She has nothing to do with this incident.”
My brow furrowed in disbelief. I looked at him, incredulity clear in my eyes. “It was her,” I insisted firmly. “I know it was her. She wanted to harm me, Dad.”
“Azora,” he warned. The furrow in his brow didn’t diminish. “Simmy had nothing to do with this incident.” He took a deep breath. “It was one of the maids in the kitchen. Emery.”
I blinked. “W-What?” I almost laughed. “No. Emery wouldn’t do that. It was Simmy’s doing.”
Dad looked away. “You’ll stay in the hospital for a few days. I’ll ensure those responsible are held accountable.” With that, he turned and walked towards the white door.
I tried to sit up, but my body still felt numb, so I shouted, “Dad! It’s not Emery’s fault! Don’t blame her!”
But he didn’t look back or pause. He continued out of the room, closing the door firmly behind him. I sighed deeply. I stared at the ceiling.
No, it couldn’t have been Emery. It had to be Simmy. Dad likely thought it was Emery because she delivered the food to my room, with Simmy accompanying her, just outside. It made sense to suspect Emery since she worked in the kitchen and had direct contact with my food.
But if the food was poisoned, why did I get affected when Emery served it? I recalled the suspicion I had about Simmy tampering with my food. I should have been hospitalized then. But perhaps the amount of poison was small enough to go unnoticed. I just couldn’t understand why my body reacted to the food Emery brought. There had to be something unusual, and I needed to figure it out to save Emery from Dad’s wrath.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly, I opened my eyes and thought back to the events of that night.
But before I could continue, the white door suddenly swung open. I quickly looked towards it and saw Simmy entering. My brow furrowed. That scene was familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I’d seen it before.
Simmy stepped into the hospital room, and the air seemed to thicken around me. I gripped the sheet tightly, glaring at her.
She just smiled and stood near the table. Even if I shifted my eyes, I could still feel her presence in my peripheral vision. I endured the discomfort and glared at her spitefully.
“Why do you look at me like that? Aren’t you glad to see me?” she asked.
I gritted my teeth and looked away, squinting. “I don’t want you here,” I spat.
I heard her chuckle at my response. “I already got permission from your father to visit you. What kind of mother would I be if I didn’t visit my hospitalized child?”
I glared at her again. “I’m not your child! Leave! Leave now!” I shouted.
As I yelled, the beeping of the heart monitor beside me accelerated. Simmy widened her eyes and glanced at the monitor. I thought she was afraid, but then I realized she was merely intrigued as her lips formed an ‘o’ and she looked at me with an amused expression.
“You’re really furious, Azora. I didn’t expect this reaction–”
She didn’t finish her sentence as the door suddenly opened, and two people in doctor coats entered simultaneously. They were followed by three women dressed in white. I assumed they were nurses.
“Miss Azora,” one of the doctors greeted. “It’s good to see you awake.”
The heart monitor beside me continued its rapid pace, so the accompanying doctor wasted no time in checking my condition. Then the doctor asked Simmy to leave the room, which immediately relieved my tension.
I didn’t follow Simmy’s departure with my eyes as she walked out the door. I just lay there, feeling more relaxed than before, and closed my eyes. But the doctor instructed me to keep my eyes open, and they checked my vital signs.
I stopped thinking about Simmy and soon the monitor’s beeping returned to normal. Minutes passed, and I began to feel tired, unsure of when sleep would finally overcome me.
I woke up to the sensation of someone watching me. I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was the white ceiling. But I felt I wasn’t alone in that room. There was someone with me, staring at me.
My brow furrowed. Perhaps months of being alone in that mansion’s room had heightened my senses in the hospital room. I blinked. I couldn’t be mistaken. I was sure someone was with me in that room.
I checked my body. The numbness was gone, and I could feel my muscles. I took a deep breath. Slowly, I sat up from lying down and looked around. The room was bright due to the large light on the ceiling, but I wasn’t sure what time it was, whether it was night or morning, I didn’t know.
While I was still confused, the door suddenly burst open, and Simmy walked into the room. Hah. She was here again.
“Get out,” I said weakly to her, not expecting her to comply with my command.
She continued inside and sat on the lounge at the foot of the bed. She stared at me, her usual mischievous smile on her lips.
“Did you get a good night’s sleep?” she asked.
I snorted. “Are you here to confirm if I’m still alive? Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m still breathing and kicking, not the person you expected me to be.”
“Ah.” She suddenly laughed aloud. “Looks like you’re feeling better now. You’re back to being rude and impolite.”
I rolled my eyes, but I stopped when my vision spun. I closed my eyes due to dizziness. It seemed Simmy didn’t notice my dizziness because she spoke again.
“Don’t worry about Emery. She won’t suffer as you expected. I had her dismissed before Ali found out about her poisoning you.”
I hissed, but my eyes remained closed, and I didn’t bother to look at her. I kept my head low while sitting on the bed. “We both know who the real culprit is.”
She laughed lightly and asked, “What do you mean, Azora?”
“Don’t play dumb when you’re already dumb, Simmy,” I smirked and chuckled. “I know it’s you. You’ve been poisoning my food.”
“Really? Do you have any proof? And aren’t you aware that accusing without evidence is a crime?”
“Stupid. We’re alone in this room, and no one will know. Why won’t you admit it? Admit that you’re the one who poisoned my food!”
“Are you sure about your accusation, Azora?” she asked mockingly.
My lips pressed into a thin line. I really couldn’t understand why she was still pretending. I was certain it was her. I knew it was her.
To provoke her into telling the truth, I endured the discomfort and lifted my head. I opened my eyes and our gazes met immediately. She was still sitting on the lounge at the foot of the bed, just across from where I sat.
I took a breath. “Why are you so eager to harm me?” I asked with utmost seriousness, my gaze intense on her.
The smile on her lips vanished the moment I asked those words. I already knew she saw how serious I was and how convinced I was that she had poisoned me. There was no way out of that scenario for her except to admit what she had done or to lie. And she chose the latter.
“I would never harm you, Azora. Don’t accuse me without evidence!”
With that said, I leaned back against the headboard and stared silently at Simmy, who was staring back at me with a complicated expression.
I noticed two things: she was clutching the hem of her red dress tightly, and her lips were pressed into a thin line, indicating she had been gritting her teeth the whole time.
Now, what did her behavior signify?
I smirked at her. “You know what? It’s easy to spot the black sheep.”
With my metaphor, I knew she didn’t understand what I meant. Her forehead creased as she tried to decipher the hidden meaning behind my words, but I knew she’d give up soon and start nagging at me.
“You can’t fool me, Azora!”
My brow raised at her words. “What? Why would I deceive you? You’re the master of deception here, aren’t you?”
There was a brief silence between us. Then, she raised her hand and clapped. She even smiled at me. “You really know who you’re talking to, Azora,” she praised.
I smirked even more at her words. “Yeah, you’re right. You even managed to climb into my dad’s bed, and you seemed to enjoy it.”
Simmy’s lips pursed, and then stretched into a smile. Her eyes sparkled with delight. “I don’t
know how to tell you about this, but I’m glad you know what’s going on between me and your dad, Azora.” She nodded in satisfaction. “I raised you to be smart.”
My lips twitched at her remarks, but I restrained myself. I wanted to provoke her. I knew she wanted me to explode in anger. She enjoyed hearing me yell, seeing tears of anger in my eyes, watching me throw a fit before her eyes. She wanted to provoke me because it amused her, and I wanted to use that to my advantage. But the truth was, I wasn’t angry.
I already knew the kind of relationship Dad had with Simmy, so I wasn’t really angry when she confirmed it in front of me. I was disappointed, but not angry, and I didn’t throw a fit because I was tired of being Simmy’s entertainment.
Soon enough, she noticed my silence, which made her raise her eyebrows. “Aren’t you angry at me?” she asked.
Pathetic.
My lips twitched again, and I asked her another question. “Since you’re used to climbing into men’s beds, did you also sleep with Anthony’s father?”
The amusement in her eyes vanished instantly, and she took a deep breath at my accusation. Her hands opened and closed before she folded them neatly on her lap, hitting them hard on the lounge.
“You’re shameless! Your mind is really dirty, Azora!” she yelled.
Oh. Simmy was angry. That made me smile sweetly at her. When she saw my smile, she paused for a moment before calming down.
“Disgraceful woman,” she spat.
I licked my dry lips and stared at Simmy. “And how about Skylar? You met him recently in a random place. Mmm, I can’t help but think you’re having an affair with Skylar.”
Her forehead creased, but after a moment, she put on a casual expression. “Skylar? Who’s that? Is he your man?”
But I didn’t pay attention to her question and asked again, “Did you sleep with Skylar?”
She suddenly let out a loud cry. “Azora! What kind of nonsense is in your head that you think I’m in a relationship with another man?!”
“So, you never slept with Skylar?”
“I don’t have that kind of relationship with another man!”
“So, you’ve never heard of Skylar?”
She calmed down when she saw my amused face. Hah. I knew she didn’t want to give me the satisfaction of enjoying her bewildered expression.
“I don’t know any Skylar,” she said calmly. She neatly placed her hands on her lap and looked back at me. “Maybe you’re the one who slept with that man, Azora, and you’re just blaming me.”
I pursed my lips into a thin smile. “So… it’s you. You’re the one who poisoned me.”
“Aren’t you done accusing me?” she asked calmly. She smoothed out the creases in her dress caused by her earlier outburst while looking at me.
“It’s over. I already know who poisoned me,” I told her with a smile.
Simmy squinted at me. She opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by the sudden opening of the door.
The door opened, and a nurse entered. She nodded at me in greeting, then faced Simmy. “Miss, the patient needs rest. It’s already ten at night, and visiting hours are over.”
Simmy pursed her lips, stood up, and walked towards the door. She continued outside without looking back or stopping. The nurse also bid farewell and closed the door.
Silence enveloped the white room again. I took a deep breath and lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
I had confirmed it was Simmy who poisoned me, even though she didn’t admit it.
She always showed her emotions when she told the truth, but when she lied… she was as calm as the ocean.