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“Wait!” Justin’s voice sliced through the tension in the room.
His calm tone belied the storm brewing inside him.
“Ms.
Brown, don’t you still owe me an apology?”
Ryan sighed in exasperation, clearly wishing he could stop Justin from making a scene.
He was about to say something when Bella’s cold, indifferent gaze locked onto Justin, halting him mid-sentence.
Her eyes felt like they could pierce right through him, and for a moment, Justin felt the weight of something deeper than anger—something that almost felt like regret.
Bella didn’t say a word, but her look told him everything.
Just as the silence grew thick with unspoken words, a soft, sweet voice broke the tension.
“It wasn’t Annie! It wasn’t Annie!” The voice was filled with both urgency and innocence, and it caught everyone off guard.
Bella’s heart skipped a beat, her eyes lighting up as she turned toward the source of the voice.
“Carrie!”
A young girl in a simple white dress with a peculiar “cauliflower” hairstyle, which Bella knew well was Bethany’s work, rushed toward them.
Carrie had a delicate, fair face, but there was an awkwardness in her demeanor, a reflection of the emotional neglect she had suffered.
Bethany, bitterly jealous of her sister’s beauty, had always bullied Carrie, making sure to make her look awkward or unkempt in public.
The two sisters were polar opposites in Bethany’s eyes, and she saw Carrie as nothing but a threat to her own image.
Carrie, who was autistic, had grown more withdrawn as she matured.
She would often shrink into herself, especially in front of strangers.
In fact, Bella had been the only person in the Salvador family, aside from Wilma, to ever offer any real warmth or support to Carrie during her time with the family.
After Bella left, she had missed her sister-in-law more than she cared to admit.
Seeing Carrie again here, especially in such an unexpected moment, filled Bella with a mixture of surprise and joy.
“Stupid brat! What are you talking about?” Bethany’s sharp voice sliced through the air.
She glared at her sister with venom.
“Besides Rosalind, Anna was the only one in the bathroom at the time.
If she didn’t do it, who else did?”
“No, it’s not Annie! It’s not Annie!” Carrie protested, her voice frantic and desperate.
“I saw it! I… I was in the bathroom at the time! I saw it!”
The entire room fell into stunned silence.
Rosalind’s face drained of color as the shock registered.
Bella’s eyes widened in disbelief.
She had never expected Carrie to be a witness to the confrontation between her and Rosalind in the bathroom.
Carrie continued, her voice trembling but determined.
“I saw… Ms.
Gold came over to argue with Annie… Annie wanted to leave, but Ms.
Gold wouldn’t let her.
Ms.
Gold pulled Anna and took off her bracelet.
Then Ms.
Gold broke the bracelet… And then… Then Ms.
Gold ran out, yelling… But Annie didn’t touch Ms.
Gold! I saw it!”
Carrie gestured frantically with her hands as she spoke, her tears beginning to fall, her distress palpable.
“Carrie…” Bella whispered, her voice cracking as her heart twisted in her chest.
Her eyes grew teary as she watched Carrie, trembling with emotion.
Bella knew how timid and shy Carrie was.
For her to stand up in front of all these people, to speak the truth despite her fear, was an act of courage that touched Bella deeply.
It was Carrie’s way of defending her, of showing the world what had really happened.
And Bella would never forget it.
