Her chin quivered. “I could barely survive; it was untenable! I didn’t mean to hurt anyone, but I couldn’t go on like that, and I couldn’t go back to my life before—in the Darkmoon, in the sweatshop.”
She hung her head, her shiny bob falling forward over her shoulders.
The medic patted my arm, and I jumped. I’d forgotten he was there.
“All done.” He gave me a tight-lipped smile. “Should heal up nicely in a few days—don’t let it get wet.”
No problem there, as my flat didn’t have a working shower.
He pulled his lips to the side. “It might leave a scar.”
I shrugged. Maybe it would make me look tough and cool. “Thanks.”
He grabbed his bag of supplies and moved off into the crowd. I turned my attention back to the scene in front of me, though part of me didn’t want to listen anymore. It was like watching my own life play out in front of me.
Is that what I was doing? Was I ignoring the consequences of working with Peter because I couldn’t stand to go back to the way my life was before I met him? Would it end, like Aileen’s life, in tragedy?
Peter kept his voice calm and steady. “What did you do then, Aileen?”
She sniffled, her eyes glassy and faraway. “I thought… if I ruin Bel, her word won’t mean anything, even if she does try to get me blackballed.” Her shoulders heaved. “I knew the House of Hahn was in some financial trouble. Everything hinged on this new line being a success. So I leaked the designs, my designs, to Li Fan. I asked her to mass produce a bunch of knockoffs and release them right before the debut at fashion week.”
She shook her head. “I thought it’d destroy Bel. The knockoffs, thanks to the magical spider silk, were so perfect, they’d undermine the value of the real thing.”
Peter glanced down at Daisy, who wined. She’s telling the truth.
He looked back at Aileen. “But it backfired.”
She nodded. “I underestimated her savvy. Bel spun it by accusing Ferdinand D’Lin and created a media storm. It brought in tons of attention and new sales.”
She scoffed. “Ironically, I only made her more successful. But the worst part….” Her lip quivered. “The worst part was that Bel knew I was the one who’d leaked the designs. Only she and I had access to them—it had to have been me. She told me I was really going to pay now. She was going to make my life a living hell.”
She grimaced, and her voice grew quiet. “I’d taken some of the energy potions Li Fan brewed for the workers when I’d gone to see her. I needed it for the all-nighters we were pulling leading up to the show. But I got an idea. I extracted the spider venom and dipped a pin in it. I wove the pin into the lining of the coat I knew she would wear during her final walk down the runway.” She shrugged. “It’s not uncommon, with all the fittings and hubbub, for a pin to get lost in a garment. When she put it on, it must’ve pricked her side. The venom acted quickly, and by the time she was on the runway, she collapsed and died.”
“Ooh.” Madeline grinned as her quill scribbled furiously. “This is juicy.”
Aileen shot her a heavy look.
“Then what?” Peter prompted, his face stony.
Aileen’s throat bobbed, and her voice grew choked. “Then—I knew the only person who could implicate me in all this was Li Fan. I didn’t plan to kill her—just to get the designs back from her so she wouldn’t have proof that I was the one who’d leaked them to her. I knew, once she heard of Bel Hahn’s death, that she’d put it together and blackmail me for even more money.”
She sobbed. “I couldn’t keep living like that. I needed my freedom!”
I grimaced. Ironic that she’d now be behind bars for the rest of her life.
“But Li Fan wouldn’t give the designs back—she could see how desperate I was for them, and when I tried to just take them, we got into a struggle. The old woman was oddly strong.”
Her throat bobbed again. “She had bottles of the raw venom on her desk, ready to be brewed into the energy potion. I—I still had my pincushion on me.” She held up the red thing wrapped around her wrist with elastic. “So I—I did the same thing. I grabbed a vial, dipped the pin in, and rushed her again. This time I pricked her and—and she died. I ran with the designs.”
She lifted her chin, her face red and streaked with tears. “I—I know it wasn’t right, but I couldn’t live that way anymore. Bel and Li Fan—they thought they could just take advantage of me and didn’t expect me to ever stick up for myself.”
I raised my brows. “You certainly did that.”
Aileen frowned at me, then started sobbing harder. Erp. Guess that wasn’t the right thing to say.
Peter gave a solemn nod. “Thank you for your statement, Ms. Shen.” He addressed the two officers holding her arms. “Please escort her to the station and book her.”
26
PETER
The cops took Aileen away without a fight, and Madeline jogged along beside them, peppering her with more questions. Which left me alone with Peter and Daisy. I kicked my feet and gave Peter a little wave.
“Hey.”
He came up beside me and leaned his elbow against the runway. He looked up at me, his face pinched. “Hey.”
Daisy lowered her haunches and sat directly in front of me, staring into my soul with those dark eyes of hers. I tried to ignore her.
“You okay?” He frowned at the white bandage on my arm.
I glanced over at it. “Oh, that?
