Clutching my burning cheek, I tried to explain that I hadn’t bullied Eliana. I begged them not to fall for her story, saying it was just another part of her act.
The moment I dared to speak, my father's rage sparked, and in an instant, his foot struck my stomach with brutal force.
"Eliana is still lying in that hospital bed, and you dare claim she’s faking?"
"Who would risk their own life for a joke?"
"Saige, lying is the only thing you're good at!"
"You’re like a dog that can’t shed its habits, a wild thing with no sense of class!" "Bringing you back from that remote village was the worst mistake I ever made!"
I gasped as pain ripped through me, falling heavily onto the floor, sending the nearby vase crashing to the ground in a thousand pieces.
Tabitha, cold and unyielding, broke her silence at last, her voice as steely as her gaze. “Saige, if you’re determined not to change, jail is where you’ll end up.”
A tremor ran through me as I met her unflinching eyes. Could a mother truly be this heartless?
“You…you would actually press charges against me?” I asked.