Ava's POV
Whispers of disbelief filled the air, but Nora didn’t back down. She held her head high, her eyes cold as winter.
“Stop pretending.” Her voice cracked through the crowd. “You know nothing, yet you stand here acting righteous.”
She pointed toward Juliet’s portrait.
“Juliet is dead.”
Then toward the gathered elites.
“And two great families, the Jacksons and the Sheltons, couldn’t even see the holes in the evidence.”
Her laugh was bitter enough to draw blood.
“You let the real killer walk free.” Her gaze swept over them all. “Doesn’t that make you idiots?”
Offended gasps and growls filled the air, but Nora looked almost relieved, as if she had finally stopped holding back for five years.
“I’ve kept Ava’s secret for five f*****g years, and I’m done.”
My breath caught, beca
