"No!" I lunged forward, hands outstretched, but I wasn't fast enough.
I watched the bracelet shatter against the floor.
My head snapped up. I looked at Sabina with something she had never seen in my eyes before.
Not love. Not patience. Not forgiveness.
Hatred.
Even through her rage, it shook her. For one brief moment, panic crossed her face.
But the next second, Eustace whimpered through his tears:
"Professor Delgado, my leg really hurts. Do you think it could be fractured?"
Sabina snapped back to attention immediately. She wrapped her arm around him and swept past me toward the stairs.
"Don't worry. I'm taking you to the hospital."
She moved fast, ruthless in her urgency, and slammed straight into me where I crouched on the floor.
I tumbled down the steep staircase and hit the landing hard.
Gasps erupted from the onlookers. My voice came out weak, calling after her.
Sabina never turned around.
Before my eyes closed, the last thing I saw was—
Only Eustace leaned against Sabina's shoulder, flashing me a smug grin.
In that moment, the sound of my heart shattering was as crisp as porcelain breaking against stone.
...
There was a time when Sabina had protected me the same way she now protected Eustace.