Chapter 23 – Poisoned Minds
I stared at the six children standing before me.
Clara. Cole. Chloe. Charlotte. Camden. Caleb.
My heart pounded.
Then, like lightning crashing through my spine, it all came rushing back–the cliff, the arrow, the pain.
The way I screamed as I almost fell into the abyss,
The pain I had felt when I woke up in the plane.
The fact that I would have died if my brother hadn’t rescued me!
I let out a loud scream and stumbled backward.
“No! No, no, get them away from me!” I cried, trembling.
Henry stepped forward, alarmed. “Jasmine, wait! Please!”
“Don’t touch me!” I yelled. “Those kids tried to kill me, Henry!”
“They didn’t know what they were doing,” he said quickly. “It was a prank–just a prank gone wrong.”
“A prank?” I snapped, tears in my eyes. “They sent me
They made me come alone. Then they shot me a message saying they were kidnapped.
prank, Henry! That’s attempted murder!”
and watched me fall off a cliff. That’s not a
He turned sharply toward the kids. “Is that true?” His voice cracked with disbelief. “Clara? Cole? All of you?”
None of the kids flinched.
“We didn’t want to come here,” Clara muttered. “Grandpa forced us. So did Dad.”
“You better not start yelling at us now,” Camden said coldly. “You always seen to take her side.”
“Why would you even believe her? She’s nothing but a pathetic liar!” Chloe hissed.
“What is wrong with you?” Henry barked. “She could’ve died!”
Chloe raised her chin defiantly. “Then maybe she should have. She killed our mom!”
The world stopped.
“What did you just say?” Henry whispered, stepping back, stunned.
“You heard us,” Charlotte said. “You killed our mother. You wanted to take her place. You were obsessed with our dad.”
My eyes flashed in anger. “Where did you hear that? You’ve been saying these words and I thought you just hated me. Stop saying rubbish like this especially when I had nothing to do with your mother’s death.”
“Bianca told us,” Cole replied. “She said you always wanted our dad. That you couldn’t wait for Mom to die. So you made it happen.”
Bianca.
Chapter 23 – Poisoned Minds
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5:21 pm
Of course.
The one person who had access to their hearts and minds for years. She had initially been the sextuplets teacher then she became Henry’s girlfriend.
She had Henry’s love and attention. I had no idea why she still hated me.
“You weren’t going to tell us the truth,” Clara said. “But Bianca did.”
“You were just going to replace Mom like nothing happened,” Caleb muttered.
“She lied to you,” Henry said softly. “That’s not what happened. Your mom died from her illness. Jasmine had nothing to do with it.”
My knees buckled slightly. I would’ve hit the ground if Henry hadn’t caught me.
“Don’t touch me!” I screamed, jerking away like his arms were fire. “Don’t you dare touch me with your filthy hands!”
“Jasmine-”
“No!” I hissed. “Don’t come here. Don’t show your face to me again. You allowed this to happen. You let her–Bianca–poison their minds. You let it go on!”
“I didn’t know,” he said, voice breaking. “I swear I didn’t know.”
I pointed to the door. “Take your spoiled children and leave!”
“They’re kids,” he pleaded. “We can fix this-”
“Fix?” I barked out a laugh. “You think this is fixable? They tried to kill me, Henry!”
My voice rose with every word until I heard hurried footsteps.
Rose rushed in, her face etched with concern. “What’s going on here? Jasmine? Who are these
children?”
I turned to her, tears staining my face. “That’s Henry,” I choked out. “He’s the one who hurt me And those are the kids who tried to kill me. They shot me with an arrow and left me to die.”
Rose gasped, eyes wide as she turned to Henry. “Is this true?”
Henry looked away.
“Leave,” Rose said sharply. “Now.”
“Please,” Henry begged. “I just wanted to talk. We-”
“Now,” she repeated. Her voice brooked no argument.
“If I knew you were the man who hurt my precious granddaughter–in–law I never would have agreed for you to see her,” Rose added.
I didn’t wait.
I ran past them all, ran down the hallway with tears blinding me.
I didn’t want to see their faces. Didn’t want to hear their voices.
My chest felt like it would explode. My past was right there, standing in the doorway of my new life, trying to force its way in.
Henry’s voice echoed behind me. “Jasmine, don’t shut me out again! Please!”
But I didn’t turn back, instead I yelled, “Burn in hell, Henry!”
Chapter 23 – Poisoned Minds
