Chapter 29
Valerie’s POV
I woke up to the throbbing of pain throughout my body. I could hear the beeping of machines and some voices mixed within.
However, I couldn’t recognize some of them. I decided to play unconscious for a while to understand the situation.
I didn’t want to open my eyes only to get another beating.
“Anita, I don’t understand why you are so concerned about a mere slave. She has nothing that could help you in any way. So, why do you keep helping her?” That was the voice of someone I didn’t recognize.
Probably some of the few in the pack who have never found pleasure in tormenting me.
But obviously, they still looked down on me either way.
“I don’t get it either. You were fine supporting Innocent. Why did you have to go against her and help this stupid slave? You should have kept quiet about that necklace, let her be called a thief. It’s nothing to her anyway. She is already the daughter of a traitor, being branded a thief is no big deal.” Another voice complained.
I recognized this one as the voice of one of the girls who had been trying hard to get on Innocent’s good books but the supposed gentle and sensible girl never looked at her with a kind eye.
I couldn’t believe she would support Innocent even in such a situation.
Innocent treated her worse than the air she breathed. Even I got more attention from her. Well, considering that I was lying in bed after getting a beating from her.
But, what was it with girls in the pack being obsessed with following Innocent like lost puppies? Didn’t they have their own lives?
I was still wondering about this when I heard Anita’s voice.
“I don’t want to associate with Innocent anymore. Her cruelty isn’t something I can withstand if I ever crossed her the wrong way.” It was such a weak excuse even I didn’t believe it.
I was sure the others would call her bullshit, but I had overestimated their intelligence.
“I know Innocent can be cruel but she is the future Luna after all. Getting on her good side can at least guarantee that she won’t use her cruelty on us.” The first girl said and I almost opened my eyes in shock.
They believed that lame excuse?
“You won’t understand my decision. Maybe one day you will. But for now, staying away from Innocent and taking care of Valerie is our priority.” Anita replied calmly.
I started wondering what it was that had caused Anita to change her attitude towards me so much.
Why did she go from tormenting me to almost wanting to serve me like a servant?
I didn’t understand, and to be honest, I wasn’t interested either. Anyway, having one less tormenter was good.
I slowly opened my eyes and finally saw the faces of the three girls in the room. My eyes looked around without turning my face too much and I realized that I was not in the narrow hospital room from before.
I was in a much bigger room, well, not the standard kind, but it was bigger than the one that was narrower than a bathroom.
“Valerie, you are finally awake. You have been unconscious for two days. Doctor Sam was starting to get worried. Luckily, you showed signs of recovery even when unconscious.” Anita immediately ran up to me when she noticed that I was awake.
However, her statement sent shivers down my spine.
Did I heal too quickly and expose Lizzie? I panicked and immediately tried to contact Lizzie but to no avail.
I tried to feel the injuries on my body and realized that even though I was healing, it was very slow and not as exaggerated as Anita had made it sound.
That scared me for nothing.
“I don’t feel that great at all.” I said hoarsely.
“Do you need water? I’ll get you some water.” Anita seemed to realize that something was wrong with my voice and immediately went to the small table at the side, filled a glass with water and put a straw in it before bringing it back to me.
Her actions were so smooth it was as if she had practiced it thousands of times before.
I couldn’t help but wonder what she wanted from me by being so nice to me.
I didn’t trust anyone anymore. After what happened with Karl, I learned that trusting people was a mistake.
If anyone showed kindness for no reason, they were either traitors or thieves. I wondered which one Anita was.
However, over the years in the pack, I learned one important lesson. Never to expose my thoughts to anyone.
The only person I trusted enough to let them know what I was thinking was Karl, and that turned out to be a scam.
So, now I wanted to see what Anita was up to without alarming her.
I took a few sips of water and felt better.
“Thank you.” I still thanked her even though I was skeptical.
“You are welcome. Doctor Sam is going to be happy when she finds out that you are awake. She came to your room several times a day just to check on you. She didn’t even want another doctor to attend to you.” Anita said with a smile.
A smile p>
Someone was actually smiling at me. And it looked genuine. I was so surprised that I went blank looking at the beautiful girl standing at the side of the bed and smiling at me.
I haven’t seen anyone smile at me since my father’s death. In fact, it’s not that no one ever smiled at me, but the smiles I usually got were condescending, mocking, and smug.
Not genuine smiles that showed that the owner was happy I was doing okay. So, Anita’s smile surprised me.
“Is Doctor Sam the one who attended to me before I passed out?” I asked softly.
I still couldn’t strain my neck.