As I told Dad that Simmy had poisoned me, he didn’t believe me. Instead, he accused me of poisoning myself to get his attention. I fell silent, staring at him in disbelief.
“And now you’re not speaking?” he asked angrily. His lips tightened, fists clenched.
I laughed bitterly. “You know what? Even a dog makes more sense to talk to, Dad.”
“What did you say, young lady?” His eyes narrowed at me.
I sighed and looked at him seriously. “Dad, I would never poison myself. No. I couldn’t do that.”
He glared at me. “Simmy said she fired the maid who poisoned you out of fear. She said you instructed the maid to buy poison and put it in your food.” Dad shook his head. “I never thought you’d do something like this to yourself, Azora.”
“I didn’t do it, Dad. Simmy poisoned me. Besides, I survived being alone in that room for months. Do you really think I’d suddenly poison myself?”
He snorted. “The truth will come out. You poisoned yourself to blame me for locking you up in that room.”
I took a deep breath and looked away, staring at the white door which seemed strangely ominous.
I sighed heavily. “So now we’re blaming the victim?”
Dad pursed his lips. I could see his fists clenching at his sides.
“From now on, only Simmy will bring your food. I trust no one else,” he declared firmly.
My eyes widened as I stared at Dad. My lips formed an ‘o’ as I couldn’t help but laugh sarcastically. “Really, Dad? You trust that woman? Come on…” I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Simmy is like a mother to you, Azora. That’s why I won’t transfer her to Oslob. She’ll stay in the mansion to watch over you. Who knows what trouble you’ll cause next.” With that, he turned and left.
Once again, I was left alone in that room. I bit my lip hard, glaring at the white door.
So that’s why she poisoned me. She wanted to create a scene, regain Dad’s trust, so that only she could serve me.
Hah. What a cunning woman!
She killed three birds with one stone. Dad’s trust, staying in the mansion, and me. Now I had to face her every day just to get a meal. The disgust I felt was unimaginable.
I angrily tugged at my hair. I should have been more careful!
Then, the white door opened and there was Simmy’s face, wearing the widest grin like she’d just won the lottery. I laughed. “Congratulations on winning your prize!” I said, dripping with sarcasm.
Simmy nodded and sat on the couch near the foot of the bed, her favorite spot whenever she visited me in the room.
“Your food will arrive soon, so just wait,” she said, still smiling.
I smirked and crossed my arms. “Don’t bother. Your food might be poisoned again.”
She chuckled. “I’m not stupid enough to poison you in your condition. Plus, if you get poisoned again, your father might blame me. I can’t risk losing his trust again.”
I rolled my eyes at her response. “You’re the most pathetic, obsessed, and crazy woman I’ve ever met, Simmy.”
She responded to my insult with a smile and casually pulled out her phone from her purse. My eyebrows raised at her action. “You know how to use that?” I asked.
“Of course. I know how to use it, you just don’t know.” She smirked.
“So you deliberately lied to Dad and me about not knowing how to use a phone?”
She shrugged. “I’m not really good with it. I’m still learning how to use it.”
“Oh.” I smirked secretly as a plan formed in my mind. “So when will my food arrive?”
Simmy stopped scrolling on her phone and looked at me suspiciously. I smiled at her. “I don’t want to starve just because I don’t want to eat the food you brought. So when is the food coming? I’m hungry.”
Simmy burst out laughing at my words. My smile faded into a grim expression which only seemed to amuse Simmy more. Well, let her laugh now, because I would have the last laugh later.
“It’ll be about an hour. I just placed an order with a nurse outside. I’m not sure how to use the phone, so I asked her to order it and she said it would take about an hour.”
My eyebrows raised at her words. “I see. So the hospital management is okay with patients eating food ordered from outside?”
“Of course! Is there a law against it?”
I pursed my lips in annoyance and disgust. The hospital has its reasons for providing each patient with meals. In fact, hospital-prepared meals are healthier because they are monitored by a nutritionist.
If Simmy didn’t care, it meant she didn’t care what might happen to me if she ordered something wrong. And as for the nurse, I’m sure Simmy blackmailed her.
I took a deep breath. “Cancel that order. I want to place the order myself.”
She looked at me. “Huh? But I already ordered the food.”
“Come on, you can cancel the order. If it’s going to take an hour, the restaurant manager probably hasn’t confirmed the order yet. Besides, it’s not the right time for the nurse to order from afar. I’m sure the nurse you asked to do it isn’t stupid.”
Simmy stared at me for a few seconds, then blinked. She walked over to me and handed me the phone. I secretly smiled at what she did.
“If I order poison, it’s not my fault.”
“Don’t worry. If I ever want to poison someone here, it will be you, not myself,” I said and opened her phone.
Simmy didn’t say anything and went back to her seat.
I noticed that her phone didn’t have a security lock, so I was sure she didn’t know how to use it yet. There were only built-in apps on her phone and one delivery app.
Just as I said, I canceled the order, especially when I saw that the restaurant hadn’t confirmed the online order yet. I ordered from another restaurant that was closer and I thought would have a faster delivery time. Once I placed the order, I glanced at Simmy secretly.
She was leaning back, watching me. When our eyes met, she raised an eyebrow. I quickly uploaded the app data to the cloud and looked for the factory data reset. I pressed it, and Simmy’s phone shut down in less than a second.
I smirked again and without saying a word, I threw her phone on the floor. It took a few minutes for what I did to sink in, and suddenly she screamed and stood up. “What did you do!”
I shrugged and crossed my arms, looking at her. “I just got my revenge. You know we’re not friends.”
Her face twisted in anger. She struggled to control her emotions, shoulders rising and falling.
I smiled at her. “When have I ever mattered to you?”
She pursed her lips and stormed out, slamming the door.
But before she could leave, I spoke up. “At least you can buy a new phone, right? Go to Dad’s room and ask for a phone. You’re good at that. If he doesn’t give you one, go to another bed. Maybe they’ll give you more than just a phone.”
Simmy froze, then immediately turned around to face me. Her face was flushed red, and after a few seconds, I saw her throw her phone at me. I quickly dodged it, and it hit the headboard before falling behind the bed.
“I regret raising you, Azora!”
“Tch. And me?” I smiled at her.
She turned away and slammed the door shut. Once again, I was left alone in that room.
But unlike before, a huge grin was still plastered on my face. I looked at the phone and picked it up. The data erase was complete, and the home screen was back.
“Tch. Poor Simmy.”
Earlier, while looking at her phone, I saw that she only had two contacts: Dad’s number and the mansion’s landline.
I knew then that there was nothing important on the phone, so Simmy wouldn’t bother retrieving it if she left it here. And it turned out I was right.
Now, I just needed to call Robert to finalize my plan. I had to get out of that hospital as soon as possible. I didn’t trust that sly woman Simmy. I wanted out, especially since I couldn’t sleep well at night, plagued by those recurring nightmares.
And the longer I stayed in that hospital, the more the room’s color and design seemed to change. It was like my dreams were slowly manifesting in the real world…