The servants kept their heads down, not daring to make a sound. The bodyguards stood expressionless.
Florence chimed in from the side, her voice soft as silk.
"Ella, sweetie, just accept it. You were never good enough for Chester. The sooner you leave, the better off you'll be."
"The Henson family's door was never meant for someone like you."
Every word landed like a needle, like a blade, piercing through three years of silence and swallowed pain.
Chester grew more pleased with himself, towering over me, grinding whatever dignity I had left into dust.
"You actually thought I'd give you money? That card with fifty dollars a month? That was me being generous."
"All those request forms you filled out? I never even bothered reading them. Denied on the spot."
"You running a fever, you writhing in pain, you half-dead on the floor? In my eyes, you weren't worth a single strand of Florence's hair."
"Thirty million for her necklace, and I was happy to spend it. You? Fifty bucks, and I still thought it was a waste."
He grabbed a fistful of my hair and wrenched my head up, forcing me to look at him.
"Now get out. Get out of this house and never show your face again."