Sidney glared at her with hatred. Sanaa, held back by the housekeeper, was unable to move freely. Suddenly, Sidney lunged forward, grabbed Sanaa's hair, and yanked her head back, slapping her hard across the face.
The slap was so loud that it stunned Sanaa for a moment. The housekeeper also looked shocked at the out-of-control Sidney. Then, the two women became entangled, fighting fiercely, while Sanaa continued to hurl curses at Sidney, calling her a traitor and a bastard.
Sidney angrily shouted that she hated Sanaa and despised Esteban. The situation was spiraling further out of control.
In the end, the housekeeper and a bodyguard arrived to separate the two, and Sanaa was dragged out of the house, her hair in disarray.
Sanaa continued to curse Sidney and the bodyguard pulling her, completely losing her grip on reality.
Sidney, utterly exhausted, collapsed onto the ground, ignoring the pain from her numerous wounds. She curled up, hugging her knees, burying her face in them, not caring who was around, as she couldn't hold back her tears.
The housekeeper, ever respectful of boundaries, asked if she wanted to notify Jayson. Sidney simply shook her head, saying nothing.
A few days passed, and the Calderon family didn't come looking for her nor did they contact her again. Sidney, initially anxious, eventually sighed in relief. She spent the days at home recuperating, and the scabs on her face and arms had begun to heal, but her mood remained deeply gloomy. She had considered reaching out to Alondra, but when she finally did, Alondra mentioned her father had come to visit, and that it would be impossible to contact Sidney. When Sidney asked what was bothering her, Alondra's response was vague, just saying she was bored. Then, with a hint of irritation, Alondra scolded her, suggesting that Sidney must be living a charmed life if she was complaining about such trivial matters.
Sidney didn't know whether the housekeeper had reported her situation to Jayson, but even if Jayson knew, he had ignored her these past few days. He was probably mocking her by now!
Sidney curled up in the corner of the study, flipping through the books on the shelf, unable to find one that could capture her attention.
In this world, she had no one to confide in. Although Alondra was her only true friend, she was struggling herself, burdened not only by familial pressure but also by financial stress. Sidney didn't like to unload all her problems onto Alondra, just as Alondra always downplayed her own issues, trying to share only the good news and hide the bad. They were like two drowning fish, supporting each other but each struggling on their own. Sidney knew she couldn't drown in the weight of familial pressure, so she actively distanced herself from the Calderon family. She didn't know if this time, after everything had settled, they would finally let her go.
Why, even though she no longer lived with them, did she still live under their shadow? Sidney thought it was because her submissiveness was too ingrained, that even though she had left the Calderon family, she still felt uneasy and couldn't stand up for herself confidently.
She also knew that she would never truly escape the shadow cast by the Calderon family... that twelve-year nightmare had long taken root.
Sidney pulled out the hand-drawn cookbook she had found among the children's books and thought of how once, there was a mother who loved her child so much that she carefully recorded every dish she made for her, writing down her thoughts after each one.
She had no memories of taste from her own childhood. When her mother was still alive, sometimes she would take her out to restaurants for fancy meals, but most of the time, the dishes were made by the cook her father hired for her mother. The cook's style was strictly tailored to keep her mother's figure, with bland, oil- and meat-free dishes. Her mother's delicate fingers, always well-maintained, had never touched a kitchen; she said it would ruin her nails, and her fingers would develop dead skin. After her mother passed away, Sidney was forced to move into the Calderon family's home, and even less attention was paid to what she ate. She never once sat at the table with the Calderon family. One day, she discovered that the leftovers taken away by the cook were the same meals she had been eating. She was eating from the same pot as the servants. And as for birthdays, after her mother died, the only one who remembered was Alondra, who bought her a small cake and stuck a candle in it for her. She really hadn't celebrated a birthday since then.
She remembered that in a certain year after starting high school, her father began to change his attitude toward her, allowing her to sit at the table and eat with everyone, and even giving her lessons and tutoring. It was only later that she realized it was just an investment on his part. Sidney glanced at the recipe and suddenly had an idea. She went downstairs to check the kitchen. Though not large, the kitchen in the house was well-equipped, with professional ovens and mixers, among other tools. She also rummaged through the pantry and was surprised to find both high and low-gluten flour and baking powder. After thinking for a moment, she realized that perhaps Jayson had high standards for breakfast when he was at home, so it made sense for the butler to have all these supplies.
She went to the living room to search for the butler's figure and finally found her in the storage room. She politely asked the butler to buy some food coloring and powdered sugar when she went out to buy groceries.
The butler did not ask for the reason, simply responding with, "Is it for a cake?" Sidney answered "Yes," and the butler went back to her own tasks.
Half a day later, the butler came to find Sidney again, telling her that the items had been purchased. Sidney exclaimed in surprise at how efficient the butler was, and excitedly went downstairs to handle the ingredients.
Since she had the recipe method memorized, she mixed the powdered sugar and food coloring in the right proportions to make different colored icings. Sidney found joy in the process of mixing the colors, experimenting with the basic primary colors to create vibrant shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
Once the icings were prepared, she cut a small hole in a plastic bag used for food, and began practicing piping flowers, drawing, and writing on paper, having a great time. For the moment, she didn't think about the chaotic events from the past few days. It wasn't until the entire dining room was covered with the papers Sidney had used to practice on that she finally stopped, having played tirelessly until the butler finished preparing dinner. When the food was brought to the table, there was no more space left to place any plates.
