The ride to the hospital was a blur of sirens and lights. Jeslyn's limp body lay stretched across the seat as my mother cradled her, sobbing. My father barked orders at the driver like sheer volume could force the car to move any faster.
And me? I sat frozen, the image of Jeslyn's body convulsing replaying in endless, brutal loops.
"You," my mother spat suddenly, eyes red and wild as they locked onto me. "What did you do to her?"
My head jerked up. "What?"
"You've always hated her, Raine," she snapped, clutching Jeslyn tighter. "But to do this to your own sister God, how could you….."
"I didn't….."
"Don't you dare lie!" my father thundered. His voice shook with rage, veins straining in his neck. "You're jealous, spiteful, and reckless! This is what you've sunk to now? Attempted murder?"
The words hit harder than any slap. I turned toward them, my voice cracking but firm. "I didn't do this to Jeslyn! I would never harm her like this….i don't even know what happened, she was talking to me then took the drink I ordered in my hand after she drank it she started convulsing. I didn't do anything ."
"You ordered it! You did something to the drink" My mother cut me off, her face twisted with disgust. "I saw it in your hand, Raine. Don't pretend innocence now."
The truth tangled in my throat. Yes, I had ordered the drink. Yes, I had held it. But I that was just it. I didn't do anything.
"Enough," Adrian's voice cut through, sharp and commanding, filling the car. His hand closed around my wrist, anchoring me. "She said she didn't. You'll wait for the doctor's word before throwing stones like cowards."
My father's glare could have burned through steel. "This doesn't concern you, Throne."
"Oh, it does," Adrian countered, his tone calm but lethal. "Your daughter is my fiancée. Which means any accusation against her is an accusation against me."
The silence that followed was thick and choking, broken only by Jeslyn's shallow wheezes.
The hospital reeked of antiseptic and fear. White walls. Fluorescent lights buzzing overhead. Doctors swarmed Jeslyn as soon as we arrived, whisking her into the emergency ward. We were left outside, pacing, waiting, snapping at each other with words sharp enough to draw blood.
Hours blurred, until finally the door opened.
The doctor stepped out, his mask pulled low on his face, fatigue carved into the lines around his eyes.
"She's stable for now," he said. Relief flickered across my parents' faces, brief and trembling.
"But she ingested poison and she will need a while to get her usual self back."
The words dropped like a bomb. My mother gasped. My father went rigid. And my stomach plummeted to the floor.
"Poison?" I repeated, my voice small.
The doctor nodded grimly. "We ran toxicology. It wasn't alcohol. The drink contained a fast-acting compound, if she hadn't collapsed so quickly, we might not have caught it in time."
A rushing sound filled my ears. My knees nearly buckled. Poison. The drink.
The glass I had held, the same glass I almost drank from.
My fingers curled against my palms, nails biting into skin as the realization crashed over me. That drink wasn't meant for Jeslyn. It was meant for me.
My mother's head snapped toward me, eyes blazing with accusation. "There! You hear that? She poisoned it,she tried to poison her own sister!"
"No," I whispered, shaking my head furiously. "No, I didn't, I promise "
Adrian stepped in front of me like a shield, his presence towering, immovable. "Think. If she wanted Jeslyn dead, why wouldn't she have done it herself ever since? Why would she wait until today."
"Because she's clever!" My father's voice cracked. "Because she's been scheming since the day she was born!"
The walls felt like they were closing in, every eye searing into me like I was guilty, like I was already condemned.
But Adrian's hand slid into mine, firm and grounding. His voice dropped low, for me alone. "Raine. Tell me. Did you see the bartender's face?"
I swallowed hard, throat dry. My mind replayed the moment at the bar the glass sliding toward me, my fingers curling around the stem, Jeslyn approaching me before I could sip.
But the face? The man's face? It was a blur. I hadn't even looked at him.
"I…" My voice cracked. Shame burned hot in my chest. "I don't know. I didn't see him."
For the first time since the chaos began, Adrian's mask slipped. His jaw tightened, a muscle ticking, his eyes flashing with something sharp—frustration, anger, fear.
"You should have looked," he muttered, more to himself than to me.
"I didn't think…." My voice broke, tears stinging my eyes. "I didn't think someone would….."
He cut me off, his grip tightening painfully on my hand. "From now on, Raine, you don't take a single thing from a stranger. Not a drink, not anything . Do you understand?"
I nodded, trembling, my pulse pounding in my ears.
Because for the first time, the truth was undeniable.
Someone wanted me dead. Someone had tried to kill me.