"Why did you do this to me? Have I ever wronged you?" Isabella asked, her voice as rigid as stone.
Olivia surged from her bed, rushing toward her, but Isabella's cry halted her like a physical blow. "Do not come a single step closer!"
"What has possessed you, woman?" Olivia demanded, her brow furrowed in bewilderment. "Are you even in your right mind?"
Isabella looked at her, her eyes brimming with a profound, hollow disappointment.
"Regrettably, I am," she whispered. Tears she had fought to suppress finally broke free. She swallowed hard against a tightening throat. "I trusted you. I, who trusted no one but my father—not even my own husband—gave my faith to you."
"Isabella, what are you talking about? What trust?"
Isabella bit her lip in despair. "You've been exploiting me this entire time. You watched me tear myself apart, watched me bleed internally, and you didn't care. You simply continued your performance, turning me into the puppet you danced on your strings."
