Chapter 43

“What do you want?” Dora crossed her hands over her chest and leaned against the doorframe. “Ethan finally dumped you and you’re here to beg for a job?”

“No I-” I tried to speak but Dora cut me off.

“Don’t care then,” She placed her hand on the back of the door in an attempt to slam it in my face. Before she could latch it, though, I stuck my foot in between the door and the frame, keeping it from fully closing.

Dora groaned and opened it again slightly, “Leave now!” She demanded.

“Wait, I’m sorry I wanted to apologize.”

My words confused Dora enough to weaken her guard. I shoved past her and let myself into the foyer. She closed the door behind me and turned, mouth agape with questions dancing in her eyes.

“What?” She laughed, disbelieving.

“I’m sorry for all the pain I caused you,” I put on my thickest, most pitiable tone ever. I made my vocal chords heavy with fake emotion as I started blubbering at her about how awful life had been for me.

“I never meant to hurt you by agreeing to marry Ethan, you have to believe me!” I wiped at my eyes so it looked like I was crying, and I turned on the device in my pocket. It emitted a small beep, but Dora didn’t react. Hopefully she didn’t hear it.

She rolled her shoulders back and looked down her nose at me, acting like she was so much more superior than I.

“You expect me to forgive you that easily?” She laughed, haughtily. “You ruined my life.”

“I didn’t know you loved him,” I insisted, mentally preparing to say all the right things and ask all the right questions to get as much information out of her as possible.

Dora circled me, observing the clothes Ethan bought me. They were just jeans and a blouse, but they were still far nicer than anything I was wearing before.

“I didn’t, and I don’t. If I had known he wasn’t just some poor nobody then I would have married him.” She rolled her eyes at the notion.

“I wouldn’t have married him if I knew you wanted him. I’d never hurt you, you’re my sister!” I was almost flattering her too much. I wanted her to think there was no malevolent intentions behind my visit. I wanted to feed her ego so that she would do what I needed her to do.

What I needed her to say.

“You never deserved him anyways, I don’t know why he agreed to marry you.” She guffawed with a haughty look, “You’re nothing. The daughter of a maid, wolf-less, no skills, and ugly.”

I wished that her words didn’t hurt me, but they did. They bit and gnawed at all the soft pieces of my ego that Ethan was working so hard to slowly rebuild.

“I know, you tell me all the time.” I sniffed. “And about the video-”

Dora let out a cruel, cackling laugh. Like the villain in a cartoon.

“That video was the best thing to come out of your relationship with that alpha wolf. I had to make it all up, I know that, but so many people are sending me money and gifts to make up for the way I said you treated me.”

Dora crooned about her genius plan, patting herself on the back all the while I fought incredibly hard not to smile outright. My own plan was going well enough so far.

“Why post the video, though?” I asked, feigning concern, “If there were any issues between us then you could have come to me personally instead of posting misinformation and slandering Ethan and I.”

Dora once again rolled her eyes at me, obviously growing tired of the conversation. I just needed a little more, I needed her to tell me more about her deception.

“Are you that stupid? After your husband cut our ties with his company, father started going broke and we had to hire a new maid since you took your mother away from us.”

“You weren’t taking care of her, she was bedridden and too ill to even move her arms!” A burst of anger for my mother rose up in my chest and I had to mentally tell myself to tone it down.

“Whatever,” Dora picked at her nails as though this was no more interesting a conversation than the weather. “The video wasn’t even my idea. Some girl named Sarah came up to me at a party. I don’t know how she found out we were related, but she asked me to tell my side of the story…”

Sarah? My mind whirled and the images of them talking together at that birthday ball a week or so ago flashed in my brain. Suddenly, their whispering in the corners of the room made sense. Their hushed conversation, suspicious glances around.

I knew I was right to be concerned about seeing them together.

“So I posted a little video with some fake tears and a couple well thought out stories about you beating me up or whatever, and viola I have a viral video that was enough to ruin your life.” Dora smiled smugly, her lips pulled into a tight smirk that stretched over her lips.

“You lied, then?” I asked, moving a few inches closer to her, hoping the device in my pocket was working like it should. “None of what you - Dora - said was true about me - Ava.”

“Why are you talking like that, of course I was lying.” Dora lifted the side of her mouth, revealing her pearled teeth with a disgusted snarl. “Are you actually as dumb as you look to be?”

She laughed at that, but her smile disappeared once I stood at my full height and wiped the pleading look from my face. Her words had no effect on me, not here and not like this.

With a satisfied smile, I clicked the device off and pulled it from my pocket.

“Thank you, Dora, you’ve cleared everything up for me perfectly.” I held up the little black box, which happened to be the same sort of recorder that investigative journalists used for their interviews.

“What is that?” The complexion of fear drained the color from her face and she widened her eyes. “Ava what did you just do?”

I smiled, a real toothy smile.

It was the happiest I’d been in days.

“This is just a little voice memo I’ll be posting online later today, you know, to tell my side of the story.” I waved the recorder in the air, her eyes followed the device in fear.

“You’re bluffing,” She tried to seem so self assured, but the waver in her voice was proof of the fear she was trying to hide.

However, I wasn’t bluffing, Dora realized it too.

In a matter of seconds, she had gone from being the one in power to the victim of her own actions.

I guess after the realization, in her mind there wasn’t much else for her to do. She narrowed her eyes and lunged at me with a piercing scream. Her hands wrapped around mine that were holding the device.