Chapter 11

Maxwell was about to say something when my mother, Bianca, came into the sitting room. "What is going on?" she asked, her voice sharp.

"Nothing, Mum," I said quickly, trying to clean whatever tears I had on my face.

"You both have started fighting again. Don’t you know you both are siblings?" she said, her tone accusing.

I just ignored her, even as she spoke. "See her speaking as though she cares," I thought to myself. Meanwhile, Maxwell formed a fake smile and said, "We're cool, Bianca. Nothing's wrong between us."

Bianca narrowed her eyes, clearly unconvinced. "It doesn’t look like nothing. Anastasia, your face is red from crying."

"I’m fine, Mum," I insisted, trying to sound firm. "Just a bit emotional, that's all."

"Emotional about what?" she pressed, crossing her arms. "Maxwell, what did you do?"

"I didn’t do anything," Maxwell said, still trying to keep the peace. "We were just talking about some... personal matters."

"Personal matters?" Bianca repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Wha