Failed Attempt?

A few minutes earlier....

Dixie walked down the hall and made the turn which led to the grand staircase. Her heels clicked against the marble floor causing an eeriness with how silent everything was. 

Why is this hall so empty? It's only dinner time. The servants shouldn't have all retired yet. I don't see even a single maid dusting.

When she spotted Helena lingering near the top step, back against the railing, as if waiting for her, she immediately knew something was wrong. If she were a cat, her hair would be standing up.

The demon bitch offered her the sweet smile of a pure hearted Saintess. The same smile she used to fool everyone into believing she wasn't pure trash.

"Evening, sister. I am so pleased that you have decided to stop being selfish and inconsiderate by allowing Alexander to join his real family for dinner." Helena spoke with sweetness.

Dixie rolled her eyes. "I was not holding him hostage; he was free to leave anytime he wanted."

"But of course he wouldn't!" Helena insisted. "Not after you manipulated his mind into hating me and my mother."

"I haven't done anything to his mind. Alex figured things out on his own and realized that a man should always be loyal to his own blood. And that's me." Dixie offered with a smirk. "I am his real family. Not you or your mother."

Helena expression twitched. She clenched her fists as the urge to strangle Felicia became paramount in her mind. Taking a deep breath to calm herself down so she would not ruin her own plan, Helena smiled once more.

"You can lie to yourself as much as you want, Felicia. I am a Del Montague in a way you will never be. You are hated by everyone and respected by no one. Don't think Alex will be fooled by you for long!" 

Dixie tsked. This was the main problem when dealing with narcissists; you could never reason with them. They would twist everything into favoring them and push the blame onto others with any excuse they could think of. Helena and her mother were so brain dead. Their sense of entitlement overpowered common sense at all times.

Why did the Duke even marry Tyren? What did he see in her that had him wanting to tie the knot? It must have been pure deception on her part. Nothing else makes sense.

Besides that, Duchess Moniqua was completely different! And the Duke loved her so much.

But he does not love his second wife. Each interaction proved that much.

This vile woman in front of me would have never gained access to Felicia if the Duke hadn't married that snake!

Dismissing her thoughts, Dixie decide to simply ignore Helena and head to the dinner hall as per the Duke's order.

If he's decided to be nicer to me, then I too will try to meet him halfway. Maybe there is hope for reconciliation. 

As she took the first step down, she made sure to give Helena a wide breadth. 

Unfortunately, the demon bitch was determined. She immediately grabbed Dixie's arm and twisted it around herself to make it look like she was being manhandled. A steady supply of crocodile tears came out to help her perfect her act as she opened her mouth to scream in pain.

Dixie was already a step ahead. She had read the book. And dumb antics like this was Helena's specialty!

Gritting her teeth, Dixie decided she would have to actually hurt herself to ensure Helena's slander completely backfired on her.

Shifting her weight, she pulled out of Helena's hold and flung herself down the stairs. With the heels she was wearing, her weak body and confronted by the hard steps of the marble floor; a genuine scream of terror erupted from her lips.

The tumble down was horrendous! Her head banged causing her to see stars, her knees and elbows got repeatedly hit and scraped, her dress tore and she bit her lips, tasting blood.

By the time she reached the bottom, Dixie immediately regretted her decision. She cried out from the enormous pain she was in. Her whole body felt battered!

I should have just let the demon bitch have her way! I'm going to be bedridden for weeks!

Unbeknownst to her, several servants had rushed out at the commotion. They saw her painful fall, but were too late to stop it.

The little lady was lying on the floor with a massive gash on her forehead; blood dripping out of it, her lip was split open as she coughed, scratches and discoloration littered her arms, and her torn skirt revealed her knee which was also scraped and bleeding.

Holy Goddess!

The Duke and Tyren were shocked at Felicia's state. How could she have possibly fallen down like that? Their eyes landed on Helena, who was still standing on top of the stairs, paralyzed by shock.

"What is this? What happened!?" The Duke bellowed.

Helena couldn't respond. She was in complete disbelief that Felicia was actually willing to hurt herself that badly!

The servants surrounded Dixie, trying to help her as she cried bitterly. One of the maids took off her apron and pressed it to her bleeding head. Another covered her exposed leg.

The Duke walked over to his daughter at the same moment Bonnie and Helena's maid arrived at the top of the staircase.

Bonnie didn't know what happened. But seeing Helena there, she assumed the jealous woman had decided to hurt her sister. Rushing down the stairs, she gasped in shock at Dixie's state.

"What the hell happened?" Her eyes flew back up to Helena. "Did you do this?! Did you actually throw her down the stairs?!"

Helena started crying real tears. "Of course not, I---"

"Alex, how could you even accuse Helena of doing that?!" Tyren immediately came to her daughter's rescue.

She winced as she saw the bruises on Dixie's face and arms, but rushed upstairs to embrace her daughter.

"Mother, I really didn't do anything! She--it was an accident! Sister slipped and fell!" Helena was tempted to tell them that Felicia had intentionally hurt herself, but given how badly she was hurt, she knew it wouldn't sound believable.

"Slipped and fell, my foot!" Bonnie picked up her sister bridal style. "She wouldn't be hurt this bad unless she had been thrown!" 

She turned to a random male servant. "Get the physician and bring him to the Emerald Green Room!"

The man bowed and left. "Yes, Master."

Bonnie carried Dixie back upstairs, her heart aching as she felt her sister crying so hard. She had not expected this at all. Who would have thought Helena could actually be this vile! Normally, she would just try to get other people to hurt Felicia on her behalf. 

"I will hurt you for this, brat! Felicia's body is already too weak from spending years starving away in the annex, how dare you try to hurt her some more?!" Bonnie snarled at Helena, before darting past her.

"Brother, I did nothing! Please, believe me!" Helena was so upset that she had actually been slandered to such an extent. She buried her face into her mother's chest and cried even harder.

The Duke watched two servants arrive with a bucket of hot, soapy water. They immediately knelt down and proceeded to clean up Felicia's blood.

Particularly, the fifth step where she must have bashed her head. The blood splatter was quite gruesome. He felt sick to his stomach and something in his mind snapped.

A sudden realization and a newfound determination bloomed.

For the first time ever, his eyes turned cold as he looked at the girl he had adopted. "Helena, you better start explaining yourself."