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Chapter 97

last update Last Updated: 2025-09-26 22:44:49

The glass doors shut behind her with a heavy sigh, cutting off the perfume-thick laughter that had trailed Juliet’s final words. The spring air hit her like a slap—cool, brisk, carrying the scent of cut grass from the rolling green of the club’s golf course.

Monet walked fast, her heels clicking sharply against the pavement, each step the only thing keeping her upright. By the time she reached the far edge of the parking lot, her legs trembled. She pressed a hand against the roof of her car, gripping the cool metal as if it might anchor her.

Her chest hurt. Not just from Juliet’s words but from the whispers, the way every set of eyes had sliced through her. For the children, she had stood tall, but out here in the quiet she let her breath shudder out, ragged and uneven.

She saw it all over again—Juliet’s pearls glinting, that silken voice dripping poison in sugar. Braver than I thought. Or more foolish.

Monet’s hand went to her throat as if to claw the words out before they could
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