She wasn’t given a chance to explain further and was forcibly ushered inside the Clasiso mansion. Though nervous and confused, she was thankful to be inside because she couldn’t bear the burning heat outside anymore. She didn’t even know why she thought of sunbathing in the first place.
“Your skin is reddening. You’ll get darker,” said the maid who approached her. She was the maid sent by Anthony’s father earlier. Esma, that must be her name.
“W-Water…” she whispered weakly.
Even her throat felt dry because of the heat. She also felt stifled, despite standing in an air-conditioned room. In her distressed condition, thoughts of the vast ocean at the resort she visited with Japen suddenly crossed her mind.
“Wait, I’ll get some,” the maid said and hurried to the kitchen.
She suddenly broke into a sweat. She felt sticky all over. She wanted to take a shower, but she didn’t know where the bathroom was. If only there was someone to guide her…
Her thoughts stopped abruptly when Anthony’s twin brother, Andrei, suddenly appeared before her. She blinked, a slight cough escaping her dry throat.
She heard Andrie’s laughter. “You should see yourself in the mirror, Azora,” he said, his tone mocking.
She opened her mouth but no words came out. Her throat also hurt when she tried to speak. So she closed her mouth and gave Andrei a harsh look.
Despite being Anthony’s twin, and having the same face as her boyfriend except for the hair color, she could clearly see the difference in their personalities and how they carried themselves in front of others.
Anthony was too formal and gentlemanly, while Andrie didn’t care if his reputation was tarnished in front of others. From their first meeting, she already disliked him.
“Here’s the water,” the maid interjected suddenly and quickly approached her. “Just let me know if you need more.”
Azora sat up from lying on the soft, fragrant sofa, then took the glass of water Esma handed her. She finished it quickly, not caring what the two — Esma and Andrie — were thinking while she gulped down the water.
All she could think about at that moment was quenching her thirst. She finished the water in the glass and handed it back to Esma. “I’m okay now,” she said in a weak voice, still hoarse.
“Alright.” Esma took the glass and gave her a scrutinizing look. “You don’t look good. Do you want to take a bath?” she asked, her eyebrows slightly furrowed as she assessed her condition.
She heard Andrie sigh. “Esma, it’s not advisable for her to bathe immediately after being exposed to the sun.” He shrugged and grinned at her. “Let her stay as she is for now and we’ll bathe her later. Let her suffer a bit. That’s nothing compared to the suffering she brought upon my family when she killed my twin.”
Andrie clenched and unclenched his fist and silently walked away. She watched his retreating figure, her brow deeply furrowed. She couldn’t understand why she suddenly felt nervous. She knew she said something wrong in front of the Clasisos. She wasn’t sure what it was.
She noticed Esma from the corner of her eye. She was still sitting beside her and facing her. She turned her face towards the older woman and looked at her curiously. “Why?” she whispered.
“Do you know what you did earlier?” Esma asked.
She glanced around. Anthony’s father wasn’t there. He should have been in the living room or nearby, as she was on enemy territory. She looked back at Esma. “Where’s Andrie’s father?”
“Sir Narciso?”
She nodded. She heard him take a deep sigh. “He left. He won’t be home for a few days because of what you said wasn’t nice in front of him.”
She furrowed her brow even more deeply. “What is it?”
Esma glanced around to make sure no one could hear what she was about to say. She leaned closer to Azora’s ear. “You admitted you killed Sir Anthony.” Then she backed away and stared seriously at her face.
Her heart suddenly stopped beating. She held her breath and clenched her fists. Was that the reason why Andrie was mocking her and why Anthony’s father wasn’t around? But why would she admit to a crime she didn’t commit? She was even more confused. She couldn’t understand what was happening.
She stared at Esma who was also looking at her. She furrowed her brow again. “Why you? Why are you still here?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you gave me water when I asked for it.” Her frown deepened. “You’re not angry at me?”
“Are you saying that what you confessed in front of my master is true?”
She fell silent for a moment, then smiled weakly. “That’s not what I mean. I just want to know why you’re kind to me when the owners of this mansion aren’t.”
“Because I thought you weren’t yourself when you said that.”
“Huh?” She bit her lip. Her heart suddenly pounded faster. “Not myself?”
Esma nodded. “I saw how you were talking earlier. Like you didn’t care about the sun’s heat. I also noticed the change in your look and voice when you saw Sir Andrie, like you suddenly woke up.”
She looked over her own body and slowly raised both hands. Could it be… someone had poisoned her again and made her forgetful? Was that why she spoke so recklessly because she was given a hallucination pill?
She gently tapped her own head with closed eyes. She tried to remember what happened in the past few days, but she couldn’t think of a scene where she was poisoned. She couldn’t understand, but why did she suddenly feel like this if she wasn’t poisoned?
She trusted Robert a lot. She was sure he didn’t poison her, so who? Who was behind all this?