The knock at the front gate came just before dawn.
Daisy opened the security feed expecting paparazzi.
Instead, it was an ambulance.
Jessica was wheeled out, pale, thinner, eyes ringed with bruises, wrists bandaged.
Daisy met her at the driveway in silence.
The EMT looked between them. “She asked for you."
Jessica flinched as their eyes met. “Don't—don't let them near me," she whispered.
“You're safe now," Daisy said flatly. “No one here wants to trade you anymore."
Jessica blinked, and for once, didn't roll her eyes or smirk. She just lowered her head and cried.
Daisy didn't reach out.
She stepped aside.
Let the nurses roll her into the house, up the marble stairs that once rang with judgment and privilege.
---
Her father and Julia arrived minutes later in a borrowed car, loo
