"Heh heh, what a lie."
Luna was about to explain, but Elliot cut her off.
"Daniela Simmons, get down here. Explain this yourself—otherwise don't even think about going home."
If I could move, I'd have already come down to confront them all. Instead, I had to watch their little performance.
The injustice of it burned through me. Their lies had killed the only family I had left, destroyed my future, my youth—everything.
I summoned every ounce of strength just to lift my head and look at Elliot.
He was glaring at me, eyes wide with rehearsed fury. What an actor.
But I couldn't hold on long enough to speak. Warmth trickled from my nose—blood, about to spill.
The moment Luna noticed something was wrong, her face went pale. She pulled me tight against her back and tried to rush out.
She was the only one who knew about my illness. I'd never told Elliot—I didn't want to be a burden.
But his people blocked the exit.
"Elliot, let us go! Do you know Daniela's sick too? It's stomach cancer."
"She paid for your treatment without saying a word. She just wanted—"
"What?" Elliot's head snapped up. "What did you say?"
Before Luna could continue, Katherine cut in.
"Hahahaha! Pretend! You two will say anything to make excuses for yourselves—you'll fake anything."
"Stomach cancer? Then I've got leukemia! I'm dying too!"
Laughter erupted around us.
Whatever flicker of concern had crossed Elliot's face vanished instantly.
"Damn it, Daniela Simmons—get the hell down here. Now. Did you hear me?"
Luna kept trying to explain. He wouldn't listen.
In the shadows, Kayla sent Katherine a message. Without hesitation, Katherine kicked us both over.
Luna and I crashed to the floor together. Glass shards sliced into our palms.
I was beyond pain now—my nerves had gone numb. I had no strength to speak, let alone crawl up.
Luna choked back a sob. She dragged herself over and tried to lift me, her hands slick with my blood.
Elliot couldn't see any of it. He thought we were acting.
"Fine! I lowered myself to bring you home, and you still refuse." His voice turned cold. "Since you two sisters are so close, let's see how you feel watching your precious friend get beaten."
"Beat her. Beat her until Daniela's willing to crawl up and beg."
Katherine moved first. In seconds, more than a dozen men had Luna surrounded.
She was alone against all of them.
Tears blurred my vision. My eyes were slowly closing.
I'd never felt so hopeless. Even as they beat her bloody, Luna kept crawling toward me, still trying to get me to the hospital.
I never understood why she was so good to me. I'd only helped her once—and she'd remembered it forever.
We grew up together in Duckwater, but I had family. She was an orphan.
She was always the one who got bullied. Every New Year, every holiday, every house in the village was warm and bright—except hers, cold and empty.
So I brought her home. My father took her in as his goddaughter. From then on, she had a dad. She had me, her older sister, to protect her.
From that day on, she was never alone again.
After that, she stopped being weak. She became someone who knew how to protect the people she loved.
More and more people gathered to watch. Not one of them stepped forward. Not one of them tried to stop it.
