Chapter 4

Before this, I kept this from Carson because I didn't want him to be upset. But now that his heart was clearly somewhere else, his pity was the last thing I'd need. I took the puppy Francine handed me. It must've felt my mood because it licked my palm with its little pink tongue. The warmth stopped the tears from falling. I was a Sachs. If I had to walk away, I'd do it with my head up. Crying would only make me look weak. ... Mid-winter, I got a package from my father overseas and couldn't help but smile. In two weeks, they'd come back for me. I missed the sunrise over the ocean and riding a jet ski across the spray more than I could say, so I dug my surfboard out of the storage room—the one my brother had given me—and pulled on the sunshirt my mother had left behind. Francine laughed when she saw me. "Ma'am, you look like you just came off the beach. Hardly villa material!" I pretended to take a swing with the board and teased back, "Laugh all you want. I'll drag you to surfing lessons with me!" We were laughing when a dog's scream cut through the yard. "That mutt just attacked Ms. Ziegler! Kill it!" The Samoyed pup's high, pained whine made my chest clamp. I ran out and saw two guards holding the dog down by its leash while one beat it with a stick. "Stop!" I felt like my eyes were going to burst. I grabbed the nearest gardening shears and shoved them toward the men. Helena, swollen due to her pregnancy, strolled over with that smug grin. "I get whatever I want—men, things, even animals. Winry, you still wanna bet?" I tightened my grip on the shears, blade toward her. "You can have Carson, but not this dog. I'm not doing this stupid bet with you. Let it go, now!" Before the words were out, Carson's cold voice cut in from behind. "What did you just say?" His eyes were red. Maybe he hadn't heard the part where I said she could have him. Helena's knees buckled, and she lurched into me. In the scuffle, the tip of the shears nicked her arm. "Winry's dog lunged at my stomach. I was just trying to teach it a lesson, and she stabbed me!" she screamed. "Carson, my stomach hurts so much…" Carson hurried to scoop her up, and his gaze turned icy as he looked at me. "Winry, a pet that attacks others needs to be put down. You're being reckless!" Then, he turned to the guards. "Get rid of that dog!" I dropped the shears and, for the first time since all this started, grabbed the tail of his suit jacket in desperation. "No! Carson, Dad and Brandon found that dog for me. Don't kill it, please…" Tears ran down my face and nose. I was a complete mess. Carson blinked, maybe surprised to see me in this state for the sake of a pet. Just as he was about to speak, Helena wrenched free and suddenly fell to her knees in front of me with a thud. "Winry, I know you resent me, but I never wanted to take your place. Please don't hurt me or the baby anymore, okay?" Her forehead hit the stone, and blood welled where it struck. It was only then that Carson noticed the cut on her arm. "Winry, you can't even tolerate this child? I told you before, once it's born, I'll have it adopted under your name. So, why…" The pain and disappointment in his eyes felt like needles in my chest. He shook my hand off and carried Helena away fast. "She's not to set foot outside the main house without my permission!" My heart was a wildfire. I tried to follow and tripped on the threshold, sprawling to the ground. My puppy was dead. They threw its body in the garbage. Ignoring the "house arrest", I grabbed a golf club and stormed into Helena's guest room to demand answers. When I arrived, the scene before me stopped me dead in my tracks. Carson had his ear pressed to her belly, and there was a faint, sweet smile at the corner of his lips that I hadn't seen in a long time.