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Chapter 23
Chapter 23
The night before court, Gabriella heard something break while showering.
She quickly rinsed off, threw on her robe, and rushed out.
The bedroom was empty, but porcelain shards littered the floor.
Her heart stopped–it was the ceramic figurine her mother had left her.
They’d painted it together at a pottery studio on her twelfth birthday. A pale blue puppy, with their names etched on the back.
Seeing it shattered, rage consumed her.
“Who did this?!” she shouted, storming out.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!” She pounded on Drake’s door across the hall.
“Drake! Sienna! Which one of you was in my room?”
Drake opened the door, irritation clear. “What’s with the noise? People are trying to sleep.”
Gabriella’s chest heaved with fury, her eyes murderous. “Were you in my room?”
“Why would I be in your room?” Drake frowned. “Stop making scenes. I’ve been reviewing contracts.”
“If not you, then Sienna.” Gabriella turned toward Sienna’s room at the end of the hall.
Drake followed, concerned by her intensity.
“Sienna! Open up!” Gabriella kicked the door.
Drake stared. Was this really his usually gentle Gabriella?
What had happened to make her this angry?
Sienna opened the door lazily. “Having a breakdown?”
Gabriella grabbed Sienna’s wrist, dragging her toward the bedroom.
“Let go! Let go of me!” Sienna stumbled along.
Gabriella shoved her into the room, making her stumble against a cabinet.
“Are you insane?” Sienna clutched her knee, shouting.
“Did you break my figurine?” Gabriella advanced. “Why were you in my room?”
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Sorry My Step–Uncle, I’m Not Your Back Man
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Chapter 23
Sienna’s eyes darted away. “I… I wasn’t. I’ve been in my room. Don’t accuse me.”
Gabriella met her gaze coldly. “Really? I saw your beige dress through the door.”
“You’re lying! I was wearing grey when I went-” Sienna’s mouth ran ahead of her brain.
She flushed angrily. “You tricked me! You didn’t see anything!”
“When you what?” Gabriella’s voice turned arctic. “You changed into that beige dress after, didn’t you?”
Her eyes glinted dangerously. “Why were you in my room?”
Sienna shrank back from that look. “I… I was just looking around…”
“Looking around what?”
Sienna swallowed, terrified Gabriella would discover everything.
“I just…”
“Enough!” Drake stepped between them. “Gabriella, stop making drama over a stupid figurine. Just buy another
one. Leave Sienna alone!”
CRACK! The slap echoed through the room.
Gabriella had struck Drake with all her strength.
Both Drake and Sienna froze.
“Get out!” Gabriella roared at Drake. “This isn’t your business! How dare you forgive on my behalf?”
Seeing Drake slapped, Sienna snapped. She shoved past him. “How dare you hit him?”
CRACK! Another sharp slap.
“You get out too!”
A red handprint bloomed on Sienna’s cheek.
Enraged, Sienna raised her own hand, but Gabriella caught her wrist and shoved her away. Sienna fell, her palm landing on the ceramic shards. Blood welled immediately.
“My hand! My hand!” Sienna screamed.
Drake rushed to check her injury. “Sienna, are you okay?”
“Serves you right,” Gabriella said coldly. “Wouldn’t be hurt if you hadn’t broken it.”
“Gabriella, you’ve gone too far!” Drake glared. “Apologize to Sienna!”
Gabriella’s eyes were glacial. “She should apologize. She broke my property.”
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Sorry My Step–Uncle, I’m Not Your Back Had
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Chapter 23
“Drake, it hurts so much” Sienna collapsed against him, sobbing “Take me to the hospital, please.”
“Hold on, we’ll go right now.”
Drake lifted Sienna, shooting Gabriella a venomous look as he passed. “Get out. I never want to see you again.
“Tine.” Gabriella’s face was expressionless.
Drake paused, struck by how unlike herself she seemed.
But Sienna’s hand was still bleeding. He gave Gabriella one last look before hurrying downstairs.
Once they left, silence fell.
Gabriella knelt by the shards, hands trembling as she reached for them.
Tears fell onto the broken pieces.
“I’m sorry, Mum… I couldn’t protect your gift… I’m so sorry…
In the empty room, the girl sobbed.
At twelve, her mother had fallen terribly ill.
That elegant, always–smiling woman had wasted away, ravaged by disease.
Gabriella, just starting secondary school, would rush to the hospital every day after classes.
She’d sit with her mother, Rosalind, sharing school stories and singing newly learned songs.
“Mum, when will you get better?” Young Gabriella sat beside the hospital bed, grief hiding behind bright eyes.
Her mother had been sick for six months, growing weaker each day.
Rosalind stroked Gabriella’s hair, smiling gently. “The doctors say I can leave hospital soon.”
“Really?” Gabriella’s eyes lit up, voice hopeful.
“Yes.” Though pale and frail, Rosalind’s eyes held both warmth and determination. “I’ll be out in time for your birthday.”
“Wonderful!”
Gabriella had believed her.
She thought her mother would recover.
Later, she learned “leaving hospital” meant something else–her mother was beyond help, and doctors sug spend her remaining time with family, fulfilling last wishes.
she
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Chapter 24
Chapter 24
