Too Pretty to Be Your Backup novel Chapter 99

Leila pressed her hand to her mouth, pain making her face go ghostly white. She couldn’t speak, so she just pointed straight at Amanda, her eyes brimming with tears. Then she grabbed the sleeve of Travis' shirt, looking up at him with that wounded, helpless gaze.

“Travis, she cursed me,” she whimpered.

Travis' expression went hard and cold, his eyes icy as he stared at Leila. Leila’s heart skipped a beat, a flicker of fear running through her.

“Travis… I didn’t… Do you believe her over me?” she pleaded, her voice trembling.

He said nothing, but the chill in his eyes only grew sharper.

Off to the side, Amanda let out a short, scornful laugh. When had he ever believed Amanda about anything? He always, always stood up for Leila, no matter what. Just like now. He hadn’t seen what actually happened—he just saw Leila crouched on the floor, looking pitiful and accusing Amanda, and instantly jumped to defend her.

Wasn’t he supposed to be the rational one? The one who never judged until he had all the facts? But when it came to Leila, his bias was off the charts.

He didn’t trust Amanda. He just trusted her jinx. The first time he’d learned about her weird curse, he’d been curious, and Amanda had explained everything. How it worked, its limits, how she could only use it once a day, and that it only worked if the person she was cursing was right in front of her. It worked best on people who meant her harm. On bad people, the effect was almost scary. On good people, it didn’t work at all—in fact, it would even backfire on her.

She’d cursed Leila, and now Leila was spitting blood and shaking in pain. That alone said plenty about what kind of person Leila really was.

And if the curse actually worked, then Amanda must have been telling the truth all along. Leila really had planned to throw acid at her.

Leila caught the look in Travis' eyes and totally lost it. Why was he suddenly siding with Amanda instead of her? Panic and desperation flashed across her face, but then her expression hardened with determination.

Leila’s heart thudded wildly in her chest. For the first time, she truly panicked. How could it be that Travis still didn’t believe her? She’d gone this far. What else did he want?

Suddenly, Leila clutched her chest, her face draining of color, and she toppled backward. Travis reacted on instinct, catching her before she hit the ground.

As he held Leila in his arms, Travis' thoughts flickered to Amanda. He glanced up, but Amanda had already turned away, settling back onto her hospital bed without a word.

Back when they were rivals, Amanda had nearly lost her mind dealing with Leila’s endless drama and Oscar-worthy performances. In the beginning, Leila’s acting was pretty easy to spot—Amanda would tell Travis she was faking, that it wasn’t real.

But Travis had always just shot her that same cold look and told her she had no empathy at all.