The video cut off with a sharp “snap.”
He had seen the camera, his eyes full of rage and dread.
That look pierced me like a knife.
Just like three years ago.
When I was acquitted by the Supreme Court of Newport City.
Everyone said I, Victoria, was insane.
That I lived only for my own pleasure.
Three years ago, Adrian was the person I trusted most.
But in high society, there is no such thing as secrets.
The day after rumors spread of Adrian putting high heels on Clara, she had strutted proudly to my door.
“You’re old, but I’m still young.”
“Victoria, all you’ve got is blood on your hands—what can you possibly compare with me?”
She flaunted herself, holding one of my designer gowns, and in the next instant my knife plunged into her shoulder blade.
I yanked her by the hair. “You know, once you’ve stained yourself with blood, a little more doesn’t matter.”
I stabbed Clara eighteen times, each one careful not to be fatal.
She collapsed in a pool of blood, screaming that I had to pay with my life.
But the Hayes family’s reach in Newport City stretched far and wide.
In the end, all I bore was the label of “self-defense.”