Page 232 of Maddening Fixation

She laughed, the sound sharp and unhinged.

“I came here to find out if you’d gotten yourself pregnant. And now I have my answer.” Her eyes burned with pure hatred. “How dare you? You fucking traitor.”

She lunged.

Everything happened too quickly.

The knife flashed.

I moved on instinct.

The first slash missed.

I stumbled sideways, grabbing the nearest thing I could find—the heavy cream bottle sitting on the dresser.

I swung.

The bottle connected with the side of her head with a sickening crack.

For one second, she froze.

But she didn’t fall.

The knife moved again.

And this time, it caught me.

A sharp, burning pain ripped across my lower stomach.

I gasped.

Warmth spread beneath my clothes.

Blood.

My blood.

At that exact moment, the bedroom door slammed open.

“Juliet!”

Romeo’s voice thundered through the room.

Then came a heavy thud.

Yarina collapsed.

Her body hit the floor, and everything seemed to happen at once.

Blood streamed down her body, pooling quickly on the ground beneath her.

She looked pale and weak.

Her breathing came in desperate, uneven gasps.

It looked like the blade had struck dangerously close to an artery.

But I barely registered it.