Chapter 464
Third Person POV
Irene had never seen her father so angry at her before. For a second, she feared that he might actually banish her. She was surprised when he didn’t. She nearly got Matt killed and then tried to frame one person while unintentionally framing another. Or at least caused someone to get fired, banished, and potentially killed.
She had been sitting with the guilt for weeks after it had happened, but now she felt even more guilty after her father found out the truth and spent hours reprimanding her for her careless actions. She had been avoiding Matt since it happened, but she knew she couldn’t keep walking around like nothing had happened.
After spending most of the day and night in her room, she left and walked down the hallway the next morning. It was late morning; Irene went straight to Matt’s room. There was a chance he was still sleeping. She knocked on his door.
After a minute, the door opened, and Matt stood before her with curious eyes. It wasn’t often that Irene came to his room for no reason.
“Hey,” she said a bit awkwardly. “Can we talk for a minute?”
He stepped aside for her to enter.
“Sure,” he replied, motioning for one of his chairs.
She sat down and fiddled with her fingers while he climbed onto his bed. Once he was settled, he looked at her, waiting for her to speak. For a long while, she wasn’t sure what to say. How could she possibly tell him that she nearly got him killed and tried to blame Judy for it? He was never going to forgive her once he learned the truth, but he had to know. It would be a lot worse if he found out from someone else.
A tight knot formed in her belly as she nibbled her lower lip.
“You’re making me nervous,” Matt confessed, his brows furrowed as he stared up at the girl he’d known as his sister for his entire life. His eyes were trusting, and Irene felt a ping of worry that the trust in his eyes would soon fade.
“Okay, so here’s the thing. I have to tell you something, and you aren’t going to like it,” Irene blurted, her eyes fixed on her fingers as she fidgeted.
Matt nodded, waiting for her to continue.
“So…” she started and then paused to gather her thoughts, trying to figure out the best way to say this without sounding awful. “Do you remember when you had that allergic reaction last month?”
Matt nodded.
“It’s hard to forget,” he admitted. “I almost died.”
Irene nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat.
“It was my fault,” she said, her voice dropping to nothing but a whisper.
Matt furrowed his brows at her.
“What do you mean?”
“I was the one who slipped the peanut butter into your sandwich, Matt… I was the one who poisoned you,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes as the guilt consumed her.
“Y… you poisoned me?” Matt asked, his little face falling as realization hit him. Irene was the one who hurt him… it was never Judy or the maid. It was his own sister.
“Yes,” Irene said, tears slipping down her cheeks. “But Matt, you have to understand… I never wanted to hurt you-”
“What did you think was going to happen? You know I’m allergic to peanuts…” Matt said, standing to his feet.
“I know, but we have Epi-pens everywhere in this villa and I thought I could get to one quickly… I had one in my pocket and—”
“You weren’t the one who used the Epi-Pen, though. You stood there frozen. It was Dad who saved me. He came home on time and grabbed the pen from the living room. You had one in your pocket the whole time, and you just watched me suffer?”
Irene’s bottom lip quivered, and she bit onto it to keep it steady, though the tears kept falling.
“I was so scared… I didn’t think it was
going to be that bad. I thought…” her voice traited off; truth be told… she wasn’t sure what she thought. She’s only seen him have an allergic reaction once, and she was a little girl. Her father took care of it quickly that time, and Irene had long forgotten about it. “I don’t know… I’m so sorry, Matt.”
“You told Dad that it was Judy who put the peanut butter in the sandwich. You
framed her! Why??”
Irene stared back down at her fidgeting fingers.
“It’s complicated…”
“Tell me the truth, Irene,” Matt nearly shouted. “Why would you do that to her? What did she do to deserve tou nearly got her banished… You got a maid banished!”