Precarious

Chapter 24

"No."

"Then get out of this house. I'm sick of seeing your face." I watched in horror as Gavin had a look of regret on his face and exited the house. I knew Ashley hated me, but I didn't think she'd actually consider killing me. Shit, I had to make sure to keep my guard up in the future. For now, all I could do was lock my bedroom door and hope that she wouldn't try to pull any stunts.

* * *

Two weeks had passed, yet the injuries I sustained from Ashley still didn't heal. That was bad, since it took everything to hide what had happened. At school, I wore demure clothing to hide the bruises on my arms and legs, and I snuck to a pharmacy once to buy more painkillers. During cheerleading practice, I'd apply concealer on my face and hope that it wouldn't wash away. I didn't want my brothers, especially Gavin, to know what happened for their sake. When training with Damon, Isabella, and Diego, I'd apply body concealer to my arms to not seem suspicious. If I started to sweat, I'd excuse myself to the restroom and re-apply concealer. Ashley made it clear that she wouldn't hesitate to hurt my brothers if I said what happened.

"If you tell your brothers anything, I'll destroy them. Their reputation, businesses, and life will burn, and it'll be all of your fault."

"Why are you blackmailing me? I doubt they care enough to even ask if you did something. With all respect, that demand of yours seems pretty stupid."

"I wouldn't act smart if I was you. You don't even know half of the things your brothers did. A simple leak of restricted information would be enough to cripple their credibility. Now, I'm sure that you wouldn't want that to happen. After all, if Stefano is no longer able to be your legal guardian, then you're going to be placed in foster care. Then, you'd lose what little friends and family you have. Now, isn't that pathetic?"

"You're the one that's being pathetic," I mumbled. "I never acted against you unless it was for self-defense purposes, and blackmailing me won't do anything to help whatever agenda you're trying to follow. Stefano's smart, there's no way he wouldn't cover up whatever bad thing he did. Besides, based on your shitty treatment of him and the rest of my brothers, he likely already suspects that you're plotting against him. He's probably only staying with you for an alternative motive."

"You little brat, you better shut up. You don't know the Rossi brothers as well as I do. Don't think for even a minute that you're worthy of being their so-called sister. You're a worthless human being, and don't ever forget that," Ashley screamed, while slapping me on the face. "You're lucky that it was only a slap. Next time, I won't hesitate to break your leg."

After that confrontation, my face was bruised, and I was running low on painkillers. During dinner, I didn't show up and remained in my room instead where I had to apply concealer to hide the bruises. Gavin came into my room and asked if I was okay. It hurt a lot having to lie and argue with him, but I had no other choice. I couldn't put his life on the line when he's defended me from Ashley multiple times. That didn't seem right, and I already knew he was in some trouble when Ashley threatened him.

"Sierra, are you sure you're okay? Are you telling the truth that Ashley didn't physically harm you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Gavin. There's no need to worry. Nothing bad happened."

"I'm sorry, Sierra, but I don't believe that. Look, if you're afraid to tell the truth, I understand, but for your sake, at least tell me what injuries you have. If you have an injury that goes untreated, it can harm you a lot in the future. I know you might be scared or skeptical, but please trust me."

"For the last time, I'm telling you, nothing happened. Stop worrying about me, and worry about yourself more. I'm not a fragile doll, Gavin."