Amelia's hands wrapped around mine, soft and warm.
They were trembling.
Mine were trembling.
She looked at me, not with judgment or disgust, but with that quiet empathy she always had. The kind that made it worse.
"I don't know what to say," she whispered, her voice barely a breath. "But… I know she means a lot to you. And I'm sure it's the same the other way around. So… please don't take all of this to heart."
Yeah.
I knew that.
Of course Mia cared. She always had. It was Verena—that parasite—that was the real problem.
That damn chick must've whispered lies in her ear. Sowed seeds of doubt. Painted me as the villain when I was the one keeping Mia safe.
She didn't understand a damn thing about Mia. Not what she's been through, not what she needs.
Mia was being manipulated. Clouded.
But if I could just get Verena out of the picture…
Rip the weed out from the roots.
Then everything—everything—would go back to normal.
Yeah.
Yeah. That was it.
