Blood and Blame

The frantic shouts and heavy footsteps echoing from the foyer did not slow Sienna's pace. While Gideon's panicked voice ordered the driver to pull the car around and Rowan cursed, Sienna dragged her worn suitcase up the grand staircase. Her sneakers squeaked softly on the steps. She pushed open her bedroom door and hauled the luggage inside, shutting out the dramatic heart attack unfolding below.

The Kensington household descended into frantic chaos. Maids scrambled through the hallways. The butler ushered confused party guests out the front doors.

Sienna ignored it all. School was starting in two days. She needed to email her teachers to switch back to regular classes.

She leaned against her heavy oak door, letting out a ragged breath. Her mind drifted to the miserable trap of her past life. She had played the silent, sacrificial ghostwriter for Lorelei’s fraudulent art career. Lorelei possessed the ambition of a world-famous artist but lacked a single ounce of genuine talent. In her previous life, Lorelei’s grades fell miserably short for Oakhaven Art School. Meanwhile, Sienna’s flawless victory at a national art contest secured a full-ride scholarship.

Instead of celebrating her, the Kensingtons cornered Sienna. They weaponized their wealth, strong-arming her into painting under Lorelei's name. They forced her to torch her own future. Every masterpiece Sienna created bore Lorelei's signature. If Sienna dared to resist, the Kensingtons tightened their oppressive financial thumb, threatening to cut off her tuition.

Not this time.

Sienna walked toward her bed. She was done playing the stepping stone. This time, her plan was simple: forge her own independent path and secure massive wealth. Once she stacked her own money, she could call her own shots. She smirked, a cold expression forming on her face. She was itching to sit back and watch if Lorelei’s brilliant facade could survive without Sienna's actual talent.

A sudden wave of sheer exhaustion slammed into her. The edges of her vision blurred. A severe, gnawing starvation clawed at her insides—a direct result of the family's deliberate, long-term neglect. They expected her to tail Lorelei all day, denying her a single meal. The family had left for dinner hours ago, leaving her nothing.

The fierce burning in her gut intensified. Sienna staggered forward, her knees hitting the mattress. She tried to reach for the cabinet where she kept hidden painkillers, but the room spun. Starvation won. She collapsed onto the mattress, passing out cold.

She woke moments later. An agonizing, blinding stab of pain ripped through her gut. Cold sweat coated her pale face, dripping onto the bedsheets. She groaned, dragging her trembling body upright. She reached a shaking hand toward the cabinet, desperate for a pill.

Before her fingers grazed the handle, heavy fists pounded on her door.

"Miss Sienna!" a maid barked from the hallway. The tone lacked any shred of respect. "Your father demands your presence at the hospital right this second. He expects you to grovel and apologize to Miss Lorelei!"

Sienna pressed a hand against her screaming stomach. She swallowed the rising bile and forced herself to stand.

The car ride to the hospital felt suffocating. Sienna sat hunched in the back seat, her face white as a sheet, trembling through the excruciating physical pain. She kept her eyes glued to the streetlights, silently bracing herself. *Another apology? How much more do I owe Lorelei, anyway?* she thought bitterly. *What is her game this time?* Whatever twisted, abusive game her family was preparing to play, she was done caring.

The second she stepped foot into Lorelei's sterile, bright hospital room, a sharp, echoing slap cracked across her cheek. No warning. No mercy.

The impact snapped her head to the side. A sharp ringing pierced her ear, followed by the metallic taste of blood pooling in her mouth. She stumbled back a step before looking up.

Her father, Richard, stood over her. He glared down, his eyes burning with an intense rage normally reserved for a mortal enemy.

"You little brat!" Richard roared. "Can't stand your sister doing well, can you? You had to push her!"

Rowan stepped up beside their father, jaw tight. "If Lorelei is badly hurt, your life is finished, Sienna! You shoved her down those stairs, gave her some fake apology to mess with her head, and triggered this heart attack!"

Sienna straightened her posture. She wiped a smear of blood from her bottom lip. She looked past the two furious men standing like guards.

Lorelei lay propped against the white pillows. Gideon sat on the edge of the mattress, softly cradling her in his protective arms. Lorelei met Sienna’s gaze, wearing a flawless, sickeningly perfect expression of ultimate martyrdom.

"We made a decision," Richard announced, his voice echoing with cold authority. "Since you refuse to act like a member of this family, you will no longer reap the benefits of one. To punish you for the stair incident and the heart attack, your entire rightful inheritance is being permanently transferred to Lorelei's name."

Sienna let out a dry, bitter chuckle. The pain in her stomach flared. In her past life, a similar incident prompted Richard to beat her and strip her assets. They didn't need facts; they needed an excuse to reward Lorelei and punish her.

Lorelei seized the moment. She weakly gasped, raising a trembling hand to her chest. She coughed delicately.

"No, Dad, please," Lorelei insisted, her voice a breathy whisper. "It wasn't Sienna's fault at all. Don't take her inheritance. A simple, sincere apology from Sienna would more than suffice to heal this rift. I just want my sister back."

Sienna stared at the girl in the bed. *Look at her, playing the angel.* Apologize? *Dream on.*

"What did I do?" Sienna demanded, locking eyes with Richard. Her voice held zero trace of the weeping doormat who used to beg for their approval. *Did I hurt Lorelei? Why are they acting like I owe them her life?*

Her defiant tone set Richard off. His face contorted with fury.

"Watch your attitude!" Richard bellowed. He raised his heavy hand high, winding up to deliver a second, punishing slap.

This time, Sienna was ready.

Her reflexes kicked in. Despite her screaming, agonizing stomach pain, she reached up and fiercely caught his thick wrist mid-swing. The impact sent a jolt up her arm, but she held firm, stopping him dead in his tracks.

Richard’s eyes widened in shock. The room froze. The old Sienna would never have fought back like this.

"Did I say something wrong?" Sienna yelled, her voice echoing off the hospital walls. She shoved Richard's arm away, letting her years of suppressed anger spill over. "Did Rowan or Gideon actually see me shove Lorelei? No!"

She pointed an accusing finger at Rowan, then at Gideon.

"You blindly assumed I did it! You cemented your own biased truth without a single shred of actual evidence!" she screamed. Her chest heaved. The fiery pain in her gut threatened to fold her in half, but she stood incredibly tall and unyielding. "You won't even bother to check the security cameras installed all over the mansion!"

"You were supposed to watch out for her, and that is on you!" Rowan barked, face flushed red. "Then you pull out those gifts to rub it in? You tried to mess with her heart!"

Richard’s expression turned to ice. "Apologize."

"Shut up!" Sienna shot back, glaring past them at Lorelei. "Watch out for her? Am I her mother? Am I the maid? She is grown! Does she need me babysitting her every second of the day? Since when is that my job?"

She dropped her hand from her aching stomach, squaring her shoulders. Gideon opened his mouth, noticing the ghostly pallor of Sienna’s face, but Sienna kept firing.

"Even if I somehow scared her by mistake, I brought those pricey gifts to make up for it. And I am still the bad guy? That is nuts. Why did you even bring me back to this family?" Sienna fired back unapologetically, calling out their blatant, sickening favoritism right to their faces. The Kensingtons' faces tightened, their egos stung.

Sienna took a step closer to Richard, throwing down a massive, high-stakes ultimatum that shifted the entire energy of the room.

"Check the cameras," Sienna demanded. Her eyes burned with fierce intensity. "If I actually pushed Lorelei, I will do way more than kneel. I will give her my life!"

The sheer magnitude of her vow hung in the air.

On the bed, a sudden, visible flash of sheer panic erupted in Lorelei's carefully composed eyes. The high-definition footage from the mansion's sweeping staircase would undeniably expose the truth. It would show Lorelei deliberately throwing her own body down the stairs the exact moment she heard Rowan’s footsteps approaching.

The heart rate monitor next to the bed spiked, beeping rapidly.

Lorelei’s voice pitched up in frantic, desperate backpedaling. She aggressively clutched her chest, her knuckles turning white.

"No! No need for that!" Lorelei cried out, sitting up slightly. She caught herself and forced a breathless sob. "My memory is fuzzy... I was just so scared. I must have just tripped on my own dress. Dad, you and the boys have done enough for me tonight. Going through the hassle of checking the security cameras is just too much unnecessary stress for everyone. Please, let's just drop it."

Rowan, blinded by his devotion, instantly melted at her dramatic distress. He rushed to soothe her trembling shoulders. "Shh, it’s okay, Lorelei. Your stuff is never a hassle for us."

Meanwhile, Richard only deepened his furious scowl. He ignored the logic of Sienna's demand. Instead, he voiced his bitter, profound disappointment. "We didn't think you would turn out to be this rebellious, Sienna. You have no respect for this family."

Sienna was sick to death of hearing their poisonous words. More than that, she was consumed by the fiery, blinding agony tearing through her malnourished stomach. The pain overwhelmed her system. Sweat dripped down the sides of her face.

Her physical limits finally snapped.

Sienna squinted. Across the room, Gideon’s lips were moving in a blur, but a thick ringing filled her ears. The bright fluorescent lights flickered as her vision rapidly tunneled into complete blackness.

Her knees buckled beneath her.

Without a sound, she collapsed heavily, hitting the cold hospital floor with a dull thud.

"Sienna!" Gideon’s voice broke through the ringing.

Startled by the sudden noise, Gideon instinctively dropped his gentle hold on Lorelei. He lunged forward off the mattress, dropping to his knees beside his unconscious sister. He remembered how fiercely Sienna had returned those gifts earlier. He had been on the verge of suggesting they check the footage himself when she passed out.

His heart lurched. He scooped Sienna up, his large hands cradling her back and legs. A cold spike of fear pierced his chest. She was frighteningly light—her frail body felt hollowed out and brittle. Her skin was freezing, slick with cold sweat, and her head lolled lifelessly against his arm.

A terrifying wave of sheer panic hit him hard. He felt her incredibly shallow, ragged breath. He remembered the blood on her lip and the stark pallor of her face before she fell.

Gideon turned his head sharply toward his stunned father. The soft demeanor he usually wore vanished.

His voice dropped into a serious, urgent tone.

"Dad, we need to check those cameras."