---- Furious, Nellie shoved me. I was too weak to hold my ground and stumbled backward before slamming hard into the sharp corner of the shoe cabinet. All at once, a piercing pain shot through me, followed by a tearing ache in my lower abdomen. Meanwhile, Nellie dramatically collapsed to the ground. She clutched her stomach and yelped. Ambrose, who had been in the kitchen cooking, came rushing out at the sound of the commotion. His eyes locked onto Nellie first. Without hesitation, he bolted straight to her, not even sparing me a glance. "Nell, are you okay? Did you get hurt?" Nellie sobbed uncontrollably. Her voice shook as she stammered, ''T-Talitha shoved me the second she walked in. I-It hurts..." Only then did Ambrose notice me. I was leaning ---- weakly against the cabinet. Despite that, his first instinct was to snap. "Tf you've got a problem, take it out on me! How could you lay a hand on her? She's been fighting with Kendrick and has nowhere else to go. So, I told her she could stay for a couple of days." Once upon a time, whenever Nellie accused me of something, Ambrose would step in right away. "Tali would never do that," he'd say with conviction. He used to come to my defense like he was doing for her now. Unfortunately, this time, the same protective tone was turned against me. I clutched my abdomen as waves of pain crashed over me. Then, my vision blurred. Nellie slumped into Ambrose's arms, saying, " Don't blame Talitha. She's never liked me. It's okay. I'll leave." ---- Her voice was soft, yet I caught the glint of triumph in her eyes. Ambrose was very protective of her. He glared at me and barked, "Talitha Fanning, apologize to Nellie now!" With that, he grabbed my arm, trying to drag me toward her. That was when I felt something warm trickling down my leg. A second later, another wave of pain tore through me. "Ambrose... I don't feel so good," I muttered. My voice was barely above a whisper.