Chapter 17
How absurd. Adrian was still covering for Bella, spinning lies to blame some scapegoat since he couldn’t pin it on me. The same pathetic coward he’d always been. I couldn’t understand why the system chose him as the object of my mission. Some people are destined to be stuck in the shadows, never worth saving.
By the fifth day, my room was filled with gifts. Flowers, jewelry, purses – all attempts to woo me. Jonah would come by each day, chattering about Adrian.
“Dad and I haven’t seen Aunt Bella in a long time now,” he’d say.
“Mom, we’ll be good from now on. Please don’t die, okay?”
This was Adrian’s way of begging for reconciliation. But I ignored it, opting instead for a hunger strike to force him to let me go. My body was already weak, and after a day without food, I felt myself slipping. Jonah hovered nervously, checking if I was breathing, then sighed with relief.
“Mom, you haven’t eaten all day. I’ll go make you that pork porridge you like.”
But instead of Jonah’s porridge, someone else walked through the door.
