bChapter /bb38 /b

Ste walked out of her room when Andrew smacked her hard, daring her. Her face still hurt from before, and the hit made it worke

She stood horen as Andrew grabbed her and dragged her downstairs. She couldn’t keep up. He dragged her down the stairs. Her ankles screamed in

After throwing her on the floor, Andrew yelled, “Someonel Get my belt?”

The servant didn’t know what was happening, but seeing how angry Andrew was, she ran to the bedroom and grabbed it,

As Ste struggled to get up, Andrew snatched the belt and started whipping het. “You snitching? Huh?” he shouted. “Your brother talked to byou/b, gave you a few smacks–so what? He’s your brother. When you mess up, he should set you straight.

“You went crying to your grandma? You know she best him? She neverid a hand on him before! You even seen how messed up his back is now?!”

Ste tried to dodge the blows, but couldn’t escape Andrew. “I didn’t tell Grandma,” she said.

“Shut your mouth!” Andrew yelledb, /bchasing her and whipping her so hard that blood stained her clothes.

“bYou’ve /bbeen gone three byears/b–forget how this family works? If I knew byou’d /be back to shame bus /band wreck everything, I’d never have let byou /bin. You should’ve just died out there!”

Ste’s body ached, but her heart hurt way worse. He finally said it–just blurted it out. He wished she were dead.

“What a joke. They actually acted like the

they bcared/b, but they only let mee back for themselvesb, /bshe thought, bitterness twisting inside her.

Fiona tried to step in at first, but Andrew snapped that anyone in his way was next. Scared stiff, Fiona just begged Sta, “Ste, stop fighting your dad. Just say you’re sorry, and he’ll stop.”

Ste bgave /bher a cold re. Fiona stumbled back.

Then Anna grabbed Andrew’s arm. “Dad, stop! Keep hitting her like this, and she might die. And if Mr. Bass finds out what we did, he’ll lose it–what then!”

Andrew couldn’t just push Anna away. He got mad again, thinking about how Anna said Ste acted all uppity with Henry backing her up.

But he had to think about Henry. If Ste snitched, Henry could pull his money out of thepany.

Andrew showed the belt at ba /bservant and red at Ste. “See that? bYour /bsister is ten times better than you. You can’t stand her, like she’s your worst enemy, but all she does is bcare /band help you. When are byou /bgonna get your head straight?”

Ste hurt all over. She looked at Anna. Anna seemed worried, but up close, Ste could see the smug look underneath.

Ste pulled herself up. Blood dripped onto the floor. She tried bto /bspeak, but passed out cold.

Fiona scrambled to Ste’s side. Her voice was tight. “Ste Stel

Andrew folded his arms behind his back, scowling. Leave her be. She’s faking it.”

Ste didn’t move, no matter how much Fiona begged Fiona freaked bout/b. This couldn’t happen–Eleanor would flip when she found out. She might hit Andrew, or even pass out from anger. “Call an ambnce! Now!” she shouted.

A servant ran off to call. Andrew justughed it off “Don’t let her fool you.”

Fiona shot Andrew a look. “You know she’s sick, Andrew. Why’d you hit her so hard?”

“Hard? I went easy on her,” Andrew snapped. “Lock what she did! You see bMax’s /bback? All that blood?”

“bDoesn’t /bmean you can bhurt /bSte, Fiona shot back.

b“/bWhat’s wrong with you?” Andrew yelled. “Can’t you see what she’s done?”

Anna’s face went stone–cold

The ambnce pulled op, siren screaming loud enough to wake the dead. They rushed Steta inside,

In her room, Eleanor was grilling Max, trying to get him to admit he messed up. Just as he mumbled “Yeah,” a big ruckus started outside.

“Mary, what’s that noise? Go see,” Eleanor ordered.

Mary shot out the door just as they were loading Ste into the ambnce. She grabbed a servant real quick to find out what happened, then ran back to give Eleanor the lowdown.

“What? Ste got beat up?” Eleanor gasped, shocked.

bMary /bknew she shouldn’t freak Eleanor out, but with that ambnce siren wailing, there was no way to keep it quiet.

Eleanor tried to head downstairs, and Max bjumped /bup to bsteady /bher. “Whoa there, bGrandma/b,” he said,

Lately, Deanor had been stuck in her room pretty much 24/7, only busting bout /bfor the bathroom, even eating in there.

Seeing how scared Eleanor looked, Max got worried too, even with his back zing from the beating. He went out with her.

“Andrew, why’d you hit Ste? Eleanor snapped.

When Andrew saw Eleanor, his knees almost gave out. “Mom, what’re you bdoing /bout here?”

“Leald, why’d you hit Ste?” Eleanor pressed, her voice sharp.

Andrew just stood there, speechless.

Mary got straight to the point. “You think Ste told Mrs. Hayes that Max roughed her up outside? No way, you’ve got it all wrong. I saw her bruised cheek, mentioned it to Mrs. Hayes, and she hauled Max in to find out what happened.

“Max copped to it pretty quick once Mrs. Hayes started questioning him. Mrs. bHayes /badores Steb, /bso she really let Max bhave /bit. Ste didn’t do a thing–t

bwas /ball me,”

Finally, Eleanor got it. “Hear that? Ste didn’t do anything wrong! You’re all clueless, jumping to hit her for no reason! I’m going to the hospital too.”

Andrew panicked. “Mom, you ain’t in no shape for the hospital,” he said.

“What if something happens to Ste and I ain’t there?” she shot back, her voice tight with worry

Mary chimed in, “We should let Mrs. Hayes go. Gotta make sure Ste’s bokay /b

So just like that, the whole bunch beaded for the hospital.

Meanwhile, Lionel was tending to Ste in the operating room.

Outside, Andrew and Fiona just looked at each other. Deep down, they felt kinda guilty, but neither would own up to being wrong.

“It was bjust /bdisciplining, Andrew thought. ‘What’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like Ste’d fight back or cut ties with us.