Chapter 85 : It's Not Enough

Ella

Jessica's eyes flick between the people at the table, landing on me last. I see the venom in her stare, the barely concealed hatred. Her lip curls in that familiar way—sharp and cruel—before she turns back to her parents.

"What's going on?" she snaps, breaking the silence. "Who are these people?"

George's father, seated at the head of the table, glances at me briefly before returning his icy gaze to his daughter. His voice is calm, but there's an edge to it that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. "I just heard you had planned to have Ella here kidnapped and raped. Is that true?"

Jessica jerks back as if slapped. "What? No! I have no idea what you're talking about."

Her denial is immediate and loud, but there's something off in her tone. The room falls into an uneasy silence, the kind that presses down on you and makes you feel like you're sinking. My mother, seated beside me, tenses, her hand subtly inching closer to mine under the table.