Page 11 of Maddening Fixation

He slammed me against the wall so hard the plaster cracked.

Pain exploded through my spine.

Before I could recover, his fist buried itself in my mouth.

Blood sprayed across my shirt.

I spat out a broken tooth.

“I swear on Mam’s grave,” I gasped, struggling to breathe. “I didn’t push her.”

“Liar.”

“It was him!” My arm shot out, my trembling finger locking onto my brother.

“Sergei!”

Every head turned.

“It was Sergei!” I shouted, my voice cracking beneath the weight of panic. “I saw him leaving the corridor just after Sarah was thrown from the window!”

My gaze darted from one face to another, searching desperately for someone—anyone—to believe me.

“You all know how much Sarah meant to me.” My voice broke. “She was my sister. My best friend. How could you possibly believe I’d do this to her?”

No one answered.

Their silence was worse than any accusation.

“Please...” I pleaded, tears burning my eyes. “Don’t let your hatred for Sarah and me blind you to the truth. I would never hurt her. Never.”

They stared back at me with cold, unreadable faces.

Not one of them looked convinced.

Still, I kept talking, as though enough words could somehow save me.

“I heard something break,” I said, each sentence fractured by ragged breaths. “I ran upstairs as fast as I could. By the time I got here, the window was already shattered.”

I swallowed hard, forcing the next words past the lump in my throat.

“I saw someone leaving.”

My finger lifted again, pointing straight at Sergei.

“It was him.”

My finger remained fixed on Sergei.

“I saw him running,” I said, my voice rising with every desperate word. “He was leaving Sarah’s room. I saw him. Why won’t any of you listen to me?”

Uncle Declan’s expression didn’t soften.

If anything, it darkened.

The muscles in his jaw tightened, his eyes hardening into something cold and impenetrable. There wasn’t a flicker of doubt in them. Not even curiosity.

He had already decided I was guilty.