“But on one condition,” she continued.


    “Anything,” Ava promised. “I just want to know what happened to my cousin. People don’t just disappear without a trace.”


    Kelly looked around and leaned forward, taking care to lower her voice. “Whatever I say stays in this room, understood?”


    The four of us nodded.


    Kelly blew out a long, shaky breath and rubbed her hands on her jeans After a while, she was ready to tell us her story. “In my junior year of high school, the day that our final exams ended, I ran into Chloe behind the mall. She had heard that Russell and I were dating and wanted him for herself.” Kelly’s jaw clenched. “She wasn’t even actually interested in him. Chloe just wanted Russell because I had him.”


    Wow, that sounded familiar.


    “Chloe had two guys from the football team with her. They were dumb as rocks and always did her bidding,” Kelly continued. “They forced me toe to Chloe’s house with them. There, Chloe wanted me to call Russell, and when I refused, the two guys…they took off my clothes.” Kelly’s voice was full of shame, and she dropped her gaze.


    Ava gasped, and Richard’s hands clenched.


    “That’s awful,” I muttered.


    Kelly nodded. “After I was naked, I knew that Chloe wouldn’t stop, so I


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    called Russell. Kelly snatched the phone from my hands and


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    demanded that Russell go on a date with her. Chloe told him that she would let me go if he agreed. Rusell thought that this was all just a big practical joke. So he said he would never in a million years go out with Chloe and then hung up.”


    Kelly paused, and a dark look crossed her face.


    “Can I get you a ss of water?” Aiden asked.


    Kelly shook her head. “No…I just need to get through this. After Russell’s rejection, Kelly was humiliated. She took her anger out on me. She took a pocketknife out and slowly cut up my face. She tortured me for hours. Then, she let the guys bring me to the other room and…and hurt me.


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    My stomach clenched, and my head spun. Kelly’s story of Chloe’s cruelty made me even more nauseous than the smell of her apartment did.


    “I lost consciousness, and the next thing I knew, I wasying in a gutter twenty miles away from Chloe’s house,” Kelly said in a quiet voice. “A jogger found me and brought me to the hospital. When I was admitted, I found out that Russell went missing the same night of my attack.”


    I pped a hand over my mouth in surprise. Chloe was more dangerous than I’d ever imagined.


    “Afterward, I was too afraid to report Chloe to the police because I knew of her family’s connections,” Kelly continued. “Chloe threatened my friends and family if I ever told anyone.” Kelly looked up at the ceiling, and I could see that there were more tears in her eyes. “Every single day, I regret not reporting Chloe to the police. Maybe if I did, I could have saved Russell. I could have at least gotten justice for his death.”


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    “I know that was really hard for you to tell us,” I said to Kelly. “<b>Thank </b>you for trusting us with that.” I turned to Ava. “Chloe must have murdered Russell for humiliating her.”


    “Or she got someone to murder him,” Ava said.


    “So, now you know my pathetic story,” Kelly said and pped her hands, the sound echoing throughout the room.


    “Kelly, you can seek justice for yourself and Russell,” I told her. “You don’t have to live with this burden anymore.”


    “I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” she said, but I could see a look of hope in her eyes.


    “Don’t worry about that,” Ava assured her. “We have a n, and w promise to take the consequences if things go wrong.”


    We had to spend ten more minutes convincing Kelly to help us, but finally, she agreed.


    “So, how are we going to get revenge on that bitch?” she asked.


    A surprisedugh burst past my lips. I was relieved to see that Kelly still had some fight left in her.


    Chapter 134: Curiosity Kills


    *Author*


    While Kelly told her the tragic story from her past, Richard used his phone to secretly call Alexander. A stab of guilt hit him in the stomach for going against Kelly’s wishes about her story not to leave this room, but he had promised Alexander to share anything he learned today with him. At the end of the day, Alexander was his boss.


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