Chapter 41
Chapter 41:
If he had even a shred of those two, he wouldn’t be forcing her to drink something he knew could kill her.
Her lips lifted into a glacial smile, sharp and thin. She reached forward, her fingers wrapping around the bottle, twisting the cap free with a clean motion. Her stare locked onto Jarrod’s, piercing and unyielding. “You said it. Remember p>
Jarrod blinked.
And then Maia raised the bottle and drank.
No pause. No twitch.
He stood stiff, pupils narrowing in disbelief, his mind collapsing into silence.
He couldn’t move. He could only stare as she finished the last drop.
The bottle hit the table with a hard thud. Her complexion hadn’t faded a shade. Then Maia turned that icy smile on him, slow and merciless. “Stay out of my way p>
With that, she turned and walked out.
Jarrod stood there, stunned. What he’d just witnessed didn’t register — until it did. Then his voice snapped like a whip. “Maia, have you lost your mind?” he shouted. “You used to black out from a single sip! And now you just chugged an entire bottle of whiskey? What, are you trying to die p>
A faint chuckle slipped from Maia’s lips, low and hollow.
Four years ago, she had been in a prison cell, stripped of dignity and dragged through hell by the other inmates.
They used to yank her by the hair, tilt her head back, and drown her in gut-burning liquor. That wasn’t whiskey. It was something cheaper, dirtier — harsher than anything sold in stores.
Corrupt guards had snuck it in, using it as punishment for those who refused to obey.
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The poison hit her so violently that she dropped to the bathroom floor, her body convulsing in a seizure. Her heart came terrifyingly close to stopping.
Only a stroke of pure luck had kept her alive.
Later, Zoey took her in — and the first lesson she was taught was how to drink. Bottle after bottle, Maia downed them all. She drank until her insides tore themselves apart, until she vomited blood and collapsed in her own shadow. She did it again. And again. Somewhere in the pain, she found control. Now, with one sip, she could name the brand, price, and proof of anything that touched her tongue.
Compared to that, this whiskey was nothing.
Turning her head slowly, she looked at Jarrod — her eyes bloodshot, her voice steady. “Isn’t this what you wanted p>
The words hit harder than a slap. Jarrod had no reply. He didn’t understand why it hurt — but it did.
He stepped forward again, his voice climbing. “You think you can live better without us? With that record, you’ll never make it out of the gutter. Everything I did — everything — was for your sake. Because you’re my sister p>
A cold, bitter laugh slipped from Maia’s lips. “So you finally admit it. Prison ruined me — and you let it happen. Tell me something, Jarrod. Why didn’t any of you bother to look deeper? Why were you all so quick to say I stole the Radiant Jewels p>
“Was it really because you believed I did it? Or were you just scared that if the truth came out, it’d be Rosanna’s name smeared in the headlines? Is that why you threw me under the bus — to protect her p>
Jarrod said nothing.
Back then, the security footage at Radiant Jewels had mysteriously failed. Not a single camera caught what happened. No one could prove she’d stolen a thing.