The silence in the room was oppressive, a thick layer of dread that hung in the air. Elena stood frozen, the words her mother had spoken still echoing in her mind. "You were always meant to serve a purpose." She couldn't make sense of it, couldn't fathom how everything she had ever believed could be nothing more than a well-crafted lie.
"I trusted you." The words came out as a rasp, weak and broken. She barely recognized the voice as her own. The woman who had raised her, who had shaped her world, was no longer the loving mother she had imagined.
"You should have known," her mother replied coldly, her eyes unwavering. "You were never meant to be anything more than a tool to further my ambitions. And now, you've become a liability. You've always been a liability, Elena."
Ivy stood in the background, her eyes narrowed as she observed the exchange. Her face was unreadable, but her presence was unmistakable—she was complicit. Elena had once called her a sister, trusted her with everything, but now Ivy was the one who had led her to this moment. The betrayal was complete.
Henri's hand tightened on the gun at his side, his muscles tense, his eyes darting between the two women. He could sense the shift in Elena's demeanor—she was no longer just hurt; she was angry. And that anger was a force he didn't want to stand in the way of.
"What is it you want, then?" Elena asked, her voice rising with fury. "Is this the endgame? To see me broken, destroyed?"
Her mother's lips curled into a smile, but it wasn't one of satisfaction—it was the smile of someone who had already won. "You were never going to understand. But that's fine. It's better this way."
"This is insane," Ivy spoke for the first time, her voice shaking, though she masked it with feigned calmness. "I never wanted this for you, Elena. But this is the only way we can survive."
Elena's gaze shifted to Ivy, her eyes narrowing in disbelief. "Survive? This is your plan for survival? Betray everyone who has ever trusted you?"
Ivy's expression faltered for a moment, a flicker of guilt flashing across her face. But it was gone just as quickly as it appeared. "I'm sorry," she whispered, though it was unclear whether she was apologizing to Elena or to herself.
Henri stepped forward, his voice cutting through the tension like a blade. "This ends now."
But Elena stopped him with a hand on his arm, shaking her head. She wasn't ready to let it end just yet. "No, Henri. I need to hear them out. I need to understand why they did this to me."
Her mother's cold eyes flicked to Ivy, then back to Elena. "You were always going to be a threat, Elena. Always too close to the truth, too much of an obstacle. This was the only way we could move forward with the plan."
A sharp breath caught in Elena's throat. "Plan? What plan?"
Her mother's gaze hardened, her smile turning into something darker. "A plan to take everything—control, power, wealth. It was never just about us. It was always about what we could build. But you—" she paused, eyes narrowing in contempt, "You became a problem. You wanted to know too much, so we had to eliminate you."
Elena's heart pounded in her chest, her fists clenched so tightly that her nails dug into her palms. "Eliminate me? Is that it?" The words tasted bitter, a reality she couldn't accept.
Ivy stepped forward, her voice barely a whisper. "Elena, please. You don't know what you're asking. The truth is—" she faltered, her gaze shifting uneasily toward Elena. "The truth is…"
But before Ivy could finish, the door burst open behind them. Footsteps echoed in the hallway—too many to be ignored. Elena's head whipped around, her pulse quickening. The moment of truth had arrived, and there was no going back.