"Is this for real? She used to be so full of herself, and now she's actually playing the dog?"
A pair of red stilettos stopped in front of me.
Vivienne stood there with a toy poodle on a leash, a bright smile plastered across her face.
"Oh dear, why isn't this 'dog' barking? Is she hungry?"
She fished a handful of dog treats from her designer bag and scattered them on the ground in front of me.
"Go on. Eat."
Vivienne nudged my mascot headpiece with the toe of her shoe.
"All you have to do is eat every last one of these in front of everyone and bark three times. Then I'll let you go back to making beds."
The crowd around us was growing. Some people had already pulled out their phones to livestream.
"Oh my God, look! It's the real heiress versus the fake one!"
"That's messed up. That's seriously messed up."
"Karma's a witch. She stole someone else's life. She had it coming."
I was on all fours when I spotted a black Maybach parked not far away.
Howard sat behind the wheel, sunglasses on, expression blank. His fingers tapped the steering wheel in a lazy, idle rhythm.
He was watching. Waiting for me to beg.
Eat?
Fine. I'll give you a show.
I ripped off the mascot head, revealing a face drenched in sweat.
A gasp rippled through the crowd.
I didn't touch the dog treats on the ground.
Instead, I lunged at the poodle yapping at Vivienne's feet.
I grabbed the dog by the scruff of its neck, and before anyone could process what was happening, I opened my mouth and sank my teeth into its ear.
"YOWL—!!"
The dog let out a bloodcurdling shriek, thrashing wildly. Its claws raked across my face, leaving raw, bleeding scratches.
But I didn't let go. My mouth was full of fur and the metallic taste of blood.
"MY BABY! You psycho! Stella, you absolute psycho!"
Vivienne screamed and stumbled backward. Her heel caught, and she went down hard, her skirt flying up as she hit the pavement. Camera shutters clicked in a frenzy.
I released the howling dog and raised my head, blood smeared across my lips.
"Yeah. I'm crazy."
I staggered to my feet, pointing at Vivienne sprawled on the ground, then at the Maybach in the distance.
"You all wanted to watch dogs tear each other apart? Fine. Here's your show!"
I wanted to charge at Vivienne and claw her face off, but weeks of malnutrition and the fever burning through me turned my vision black.
In the last second before I lost consciousness, I saw the Maybach's door fly open.
Howard moved like a blur, sprinting toward me.
But he didn't make it in time.
My body slammed into the pavement, and everything went dark.
The last things I heard were Vivienne's hysterical shrieking and Howard's voice, raw and furious.
"Stella—!"
