Maria.
I was still staring at Anabel, my mind too tangled to register anything else, when it happened.
I never saw Vanessa move.
One moment she was standing beside her sister, silent and watchful, and the next she was in front of me. Her movement was so sudden it startled the breath right out of my lungs. Before I could even flinch, her hand connected with my face.
Once.
Then again.
Two sharp slaps landed in quick succession, the sound cracking loudly in the corridor. My head snapped to the side and then back again, my vision swimming as the force of it stole the air from my chest. I stumbled backward, barely managing to keep myself upright as a sharp ringing filled my ears.
Pain bloomed across my cheeks, hot and relentless.
"I have been observing you for a while now, Maria," Vanessa said coldly, her voice trembling, not with weakness, but with barely contained fury. "And it seems you have no shame at all."
