The words had barely left my mouth when a vicious slap exploded across my cheek.
My ears rang. My body hit the ground hard, the manicured grass cold and damp beneath my palms.
The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.
Colino stood over me, expression cold and condescending—the face of a man who'd been raised to believe his word was law, his judgment absolute.
"You spread rumors about her! Don't you know it makes her suffer? How long are you gonna keep this going? Do you want her to kill herself?"
I pushed myself up, my face burning with rage.
"She suffered? She?!" I barked out a laugh, bitter and broken—the sound of something inside me finally snapping. "She suffered from her own stupid choices! And you—you know exactly what she did. My mother is dead! I lost everything and you're just going to stand there and let her play the victim?!"
The whispers started—quiet at first, like a ripple across still water, then louder as the crowd leaned in. In this world, gossip was currency, and I'd just handed them a fortune.
Colino's jaw clenched tight, a muscle ticking beneath his skin.