Chapter 3

Lily's POV

The room erupts into chaos.

The whispers turn into shouts. People are scrambling everywhere.

"Someone call an ambulance!" Dad's voice cuts through the chaos.

Nathan's holding Claire in his arms, staring at that cake. His face flashes with regret.

"Lily insisted on making the damn cake!" There's guilt and anger mixed in his voice. "I never should've let her! What the hell was I thinking?"

Every eye in the room is locked on my empty seat.

"I knew she couldn't stand Claire!" Mom's voice is sharp as a blade. "How could she pull something like this at Claire's birthday!"

"What do you expect? She grew up in some backwater town." Dad's face is turning purple.

I'm floating above them, watching as they lift Claire onto a stretcher and rush her to the ambulance.

I want to tell them.

I did make that cake, but I never put in any hazelnuts.

I remember Claire saying she loved strawberry filling, so I went to three different stores to find the freshest ones. I checked every single ingredient label to make sure there weren't any nuts she's allergic to.

I just wanted her birthday to be perfect.

Too bad they'll never know that now.

Claire's only in the hospital for three days before she's discharged.

The second I see her face, completely fine, I know she faked the whole thing.

But my family can't see it. To them, this is "attempted murder," and I'm the monster who did it.

"I can't believe it," Mom's voice drips with disgust. "She actually tried to hurt her own sister. What kind of person does that?"

"What do you expect? She grew up in some backwater town." Dad's gripping the steering wheel. "That's it—I'm cutting off all her cards, effective immediately. Not another penny."

Nathan's looking at Claire in the backseat, her face all pale. "We should take her room, turn it into Claire's art studio. That south window gets perfect light. Claire needs somewhere quiet to recover."

"And her? She can sleep in the downstairs guest room when she gets back. I'm gonna drag her back here myself and make her grovel at Claire's feet until she begs for forgiveness."

I'm floating between them, listening to them blame me for something I didn't do.

The car pulls into the estate. The housekeeper's standing at the door, looking worried.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hayes," she steps forward, worry creeping into her voice. "Miss Lily... she didn't come home."

Dad's face darkens. "A young woman staying out? Where does she get off?"

Nathan laughs coldly, helping Claire into the living room. "She's hiding because she knows she's screwed. She poisoned Claire, knew she'd get in trouble, so now she's off playing victim somewhere."

"She even called me yesterday with this whole kidnapping sob story." He settles Claire on the couch and tucks a blanket around her. "Now she's pulling the runaway act. You can't go easy on people like her."

Claire's biting her lip, her eyes getting watery. "Nathan... what if she's actually..."

"Actually what?" Mom sits down next to Claire. "That girl's strong as an ox from working on farms. Five men couldn't hold her down. Nobody's hurting her. She's jealous of you—that's why she did this. Now she's hiding somewhere playing her little games."

The housekeeper speaks up quietly. "Mr. Hayes, Mrs. Hayes... Lily's not like that. She wouldn't..."

Dad shakes his head, disappointment in his voice. "She's got you fooled. We know exactly what she's like."

The housekeeper looks like she wants to say more, but just shakes her head and sighs. I can see the helplessness and sadness in her eyes.

She's the only person in this house who was ever kind to me.

But here, her words don't mean anything.

Right then, Alexander walks in carrying a huge bouquet of roses. He obviously heard the conversation. He's frowning. "Lily's still not back? That attitude's gonna be a problem once she's a Ross. Someone needs to straighten her out."

He walks over to Claire and hands her the flowers. "Thank God Claire's okay, or I'd have to rethink this whole engagement. Claire, these are for you."

Claire takes the flowers and buries her face in the petals, her voice muffled. "Thank you, Alexander..."

Nathan's already heading for the door. "That's it. I'm gonna go find her right now. She's gonna get on her knees in front of Claire and learn her lesson."

Alexander stands up. "I'll come with you."

"Wait—" Claire suddenly speaks up, tears sliding down her cheeks. "Nathan... Alexander... don't go."

"Maybe... maybe something really did happen to Lily. If you go looking for her, she'll think we're ganging up on her... just let her calm down on her own..."

Nathan hesitates, looking back at Claire's pale face, then walks back and sits down next to her. "Fine. Whatever you want. You're too good to her. She tried to hurt you and you're still making excuses for her."

I'm watching Claire lower her eyes, a smile flickering across her lips.

In that eerie silence, the landline in the living room suddenly rings.

The sharp sound echoes through the empty hall.

The housekeeper walks over and picks up.

After listening for a moment, her face goes completely white.

Her hand is shaking as she holds out the receiver. "Mr. Hayes... Mrs. Hayes... it's... it's the police..."