Page 32 of Bittersweet Revenge

“You tell me,” I replied, my voice sharper than I’d intended. Now was not the time to settle the accounts.

She shook her head, wincing again. “I don't remember. We fought and then…” She shook her head again.

I raised an eyebrow, taking a step back. Did she try to kill herself because I was going to see Aleks?

“Is that why you tried to kill yourself?”

She jerked on her pillow. “What? I’m no… I didn’t.”

“I thought you didn’t remember what happened?” I asked, not able to contain the edge in my voice.

“It doesn't matter if I remember or not, I would never. No.”

Despite the evidence in my hand, I wanted to believe her. I wanted her words to be true. It was hard to accept that someone, anyone, especially someone I once thought cared, would rather end her life than contemplate her life with me.

“How did you get access to my mother’s meds cabinet?”

“I didn’t.”

I sighed; I was too tired to play games. “Stop it, Esmeralda. Let go of the fake person you’re pretending to be.” I extended my phone to her, showing her the tox-screen result. “You had Haldol and Klonopin in your blood. Now I repeat, how did you get access to my mother’s medicine cabinet?”

“I didn’t, Caleb.” She tried to pull on her IV, but I reached for her hand, stopping her. “I have too much to do.”

I frowned. “What do you have to do?”

“I…” She stopped, trying to pull herself up on the bed.

Now that she was awake and apparently okay, my frustration at her actions was back in full force. But even I wouldn’t unleash my anger on a bedridden woman.

I threw my hands up in exasperation. “I’ll call the doctor. When you’re ready to finally tell the truth, we’ll talk.”

“Caleb, please,” she begged. Her voice was still so thin and uncertain. It was too fresh a reminder for when she’d begged me not to go last night. This brought on a wave of new feelings I'd never experienced befo - guilt.

I shook my head, exiting the room and already calling Dr. Willis. I then decided to go confront Archibald. Maybe he could shed some light on what she’d done last night, and perhaps I could pass him some of the unwelcome guilt I was feeling.

I found him walking back and forth in the small library, his back straight, his hands tightened into fists behind his back. Archibald and I were very similar, which had helped our thin truce to sprout. We were cool, never letting anything get the better of us. But right now, he looked at me like he could murder me. It was clear to see that Esmeralda had gone through all his walls and pretenses, as she had with me. How ironic.

“How dare you keep me away from my sister, Astor?” he roared, charging toward me.

I tried to keep my cool, resting in front of the door. I knew he would hit me if he wanted to, but he also knew I fought dirty and wouldn’t mind crossing lines he wouldn't get within ten feet of.

“Let me see her,” he hissed through clenched teeth, standing almost chest to chest with me.

I shook my head. “No. She is resting. The doctor is on his way.”

He raised an eyebrow as if he couldn't understand me. Well, that made two of us. “No, she needs me. I need to make sure she is safe.”

Ah, I saw it now. He believed I’d hurt her. My mouth morphed into a humorless rictus. I wanted to shut him up more than keep the secret of what had happened to her. “Oh, you are an expert on your sister? Could you please tell me then why she tried to kill herself?”

Archibald took a step back, allowing me to slip past him and walk into the library. “What did you say?”

“Your sister, the girl you know so well, she tried to end her life.”

Archibald scoffed, shaking his head. “This is ludicrous. Esmeralda would never do that.”

He was so confident in his words, as if he’d known her his whole life, and that small and aggravating part of me hung on to this belief harder than it should have.

I threw him my phone. “Then explain this.”

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