Chapter 2
I stood frozen, waiting for someone to say they were sorry.
No one moved.
Vanessa stared at the floor, her chest rising and falling fast.
Margaret looked from Vanessa to me, confusion warring with shock.
Daniel lowered his phone, his jaw set tight.
“Explain yourself,” he said, his voice low and dangerous.
Vanessa laughed, a shrill broken sound.
“Why should I? You all already decided she was guilty.”
My heart twisted.
She was right.
Not one person had asked me if I’d done it.
They’d just seen the bag and believed the worst.
“Because you struck an innocent woman and tried to ruin her life,” Daniel said, stepping closer.
Vanessa’s eyes flashed.
“Ruin her life? I’ve been invisible for years!”
I frowned.
Invisible?
She was the wealthy daughter of the house.
I was just the help.
“You have everything,” I said, my voice shaking.
“Why would you do this to me?”
Vanessa turned on me, tears spilling down her face.
“Everything? I have a name and a fortune. But I have never had their respect!”
She gestured at Margaret and Daniel.
“Father always praised how hard you worked. Mother always said you were polite and grateful.”
I stared at her in disbelief.
She was jealous of me?
Of a maid who scrubbed floors and washed dishes?
“That’s not true,” Margaret said, her voice soft.
“I never compared you to Emily.”
“Of course you did!” Vanessa shouted.
“Every time I made a mistake, you said ‘Why can’t you be more like her?’”
The room went quiet again.
I felt sick.
All those small compliments I’d thought were kind…
They’d turned into knives in Vanessa’s hands.
“So you planted the necklace to make me look like a thief?” Daniel asked.
“You wanted to prove that even the ‘perfect’ Emily was corrupt?”
May you like
Vanessa nodded, fresh tears falling.
“I wanted you to see that she wasn’t better than me. I wanted you to see me.”
