Chapter 54

“I will p>

Her friends still looked uneasy as they gave her a few more words of comfort before heading out. “We’re going now. Just get some rest, okay? Honestly, if you look at it another way, none of this is really worth getting worked up over p>

Lucie nodded. “I know p>

After they left, she lay back on her hospital bed, staring out at the neon city lights and the endless rows of skyscrapers outside her window. Suddenly, everything felt meaningless. Her life seemed empty, and nothing about this existence was what she’d ever wanted. New Amberton was a playground for the world’s ultra- rich, overflowing with temptation and greed at every corner. All Lucie wanted was to run away, leave it all behind, and start fresh somewhere new.

An hour later, Lucie was finally beginning to relax when the door suddenly burst open with a loud crash. Marian stormed in, eyes swollen and face red with anger.

Four hospital aides rushed forward, trying to stop her. “Marian, you can’t go in. Mrs. Heath needs to rest p>

But Marian didn’t care. Bolstered by her connections and her daughter’s special status, she shoved them aside like they were nothing and marched straight to the bed.

“Mrs. Heath, I’m begging you, please let my daughter go! Stop messing with her, I’m begging you, have some mercy p>

Without a second thought, Marian dropped to her knees right by the bed. This was her go-to move-acting pitiful, playing the victim, and pretending to be desperate. No matter what she’d done, she always thought a dramatic kneel would put her on the moral high ground.

“I’m kneeling, I’m begging, what else do you want from me p>

The second her knees hit the floor, a dozen sharp pains shot through her legs, like she’d landed straight on a bed of nails.

“Ahhh p>

Marian screamed, rolling on the ground in agony. She looked down and saw a bunch of thumbtacks sticking out of her knees and shins. Because she’d thrown herself down so hard, the tacks were buried even deeper.

“Ow! My legs! Somebody help me! I can’t take it!” she shrieked, her voice echoing through the halls, louder than a slaughtered animal.

“What’s going on? What happened?” Nurses and a doctor rushed in, alarmed by the noise.

Marian writhed on the floor, shaking from the pain. “Thumbtacks are in my legs! Get them out! Get them out p>

The doctor knelt down to check and saw the tacks piercing both her knees. “Don’t move. I’m going to pull them out p>

Every time he pulled out a tack, Marian let out another piercing scream. “Aaaah! Ow p>

Lucie just watched from her bed, her face unreadable.

She’d seen this coming a mile away. Marian would barge in, kneel, and

cause a scene like always. So Lucie had made sure there were thumbtacks scattered or the floor, even guessing exactly where Marian would kneel.

“It hurts! I can’t stand it! You’re going to kill me p>

In the next room, Steven was keeping an eye on Shannon. He heard Marian’s

screams and rushed over, worry all over his face.

“Marian, what happened p>

“Mr. Heath, my knees, they hurt so much! Mrs. Heath put tacks on the floor just to hurt met She Wants me dead!” Marian sobbed, desperate to make Lucie look like the villain.

Steven frowned, glancing at the tacks still on the floor. “Why are there so many tacks here p>

“Mrs. Heath, you are so cruel! How

could you treat us like this? Mr p>

never’s

Heath and the old lady will never forgive you for what you’ve done p>