Chapter 5: Jessica
Sarah POV
And there she stands.
Jessica Blake—my high school bully, the girl who bullied me for four years. She tilts her head, her eyes glinting with acuity. "Wow. Did not think I would see you here. Last I heard, you were clawing your way into the business world."
I stiffen my shoulders and glare at her. "And last I heard, you married a criminal."
The smirk widens. "Oh, sweetheart, that's old news." She takes the liberty of sliding into the seat beside me while drumming her red nails on the table. "What's new, however, is Lucian Dante suddenly being very interested in you."
Brielle bristles. "How the hell do you know that?"
Jessica hums, spinning the fluid in her hand. "Word travels pretty fast in our realm." She leans forward, perfume almost suffocating me. "So then, Sarah, what did you do to get Lucian Dante wanting to set a ring on your finger?"
My heart hammers.
I glance over at Brielle, who shoots me a look that screams, don't answer.
But Jessica is smiling already like she knows something I don't.
And suddenly I have this feeling of impending doom—
That is whatever she does know.
Might destroy me.
So I say nothing.
She doesn't require my response.
Because now her smile is something harder. "You ruined my life."
Brielle laughs. "Oh, give me a break."
Jessica doesn't even recognize her and is looking at me. "Do you think I would ever forget what you did to me, Sarah?" Her voice is soft, but there is a tempest brewing just beneath the surface. "You think I would ever forget you going into the principal's office and telling on me like a fool?"
I grip my glass, memories crashing into me like a truck.
High school. Jessica Blake was the girl. The girl everyone envied or was too scared of. And me? I was her hungry, unlucky punching bag. It started with whispers. Backhanded compliments. Soft insults. Then it got worse. With "accidental" pushes in the hall. My locker was trashed, and my grades magically vanished.
It only worsened.
Until one day, she had gone too far. I told her. She was expelled.
"You were a bully. You should have been expelled," I answered evenly.
Jessica's eyes are furious, but she is in control. "You destroyed my life, Sarah. You destroyed my lifestyle, my friends, my reputation."
I grip my drink hard. "You did that to yourself."
Her fingers are encircling the table's edge. "You think you're a saint? That you were some sort of helpless victim?" She steps forward, her tone dropping to a lower pitch. "You had no business in my world. You were nothing then, and you're nothing now."
My jaw clenches.
Brielle smirks. "Oh my God, give yourself a break. That was years ago. What, you still cry about it to your therapist?"
Jessica looks at Brielle and scowls her face. "Brielle. Still a loyal lapdog, I see."
Brielle nicely smiles. "Still insecure, overgrown mean girl, I see."
Jessica's fists, but her smile remained. "Cute. Really. But I'm not here for you." Her eyes met mine again. "I'm here for her."
I take slow breaths, trying not to let her see just how shaken I am. "What do you want, Jessica?"
The query elicits a smile from her; slow, evil, not reaching her eyes.
Oh, Sarah." She tilts her head in imitation of sweetness. "You have no idea what's coming, do you?"
A queasy knot forms in my belly. "What are you talking about?"
Jessica leans forward in a straight line, crimson nails tapping the table. "See, I recovered from what you did to me. I had to rebuild because of you." Her eyes blaze. "And in between, I met him."
I dislike the way she says it.
Brielle shifts beside me. "Him?"
Jessica smiles even wider. "My husband."
Something in the way she says it makes my stomach turn.
Jessica inclines forward. "He's a strong man, Sarah. Feared. Respected." She is touching the rim of my glass with a light finger. "Don't cross a man like that and expect him not to take it out on anyone who doesn't speak up for his wife."
Brielle stiffens. "You can't be serious."
Jessica dismisses her. "Do you know what happens to a man like that when you wrong him, Sarah?" Her voice drops low. "Do you know what he does to those who hurt the woman he loves?"
I tense.
Jessica smiles. "You will see soon enough."
The atmosphere shifts. The implicit threat hangs in the air.
Brielle snorts. "Oh please. What, is he gonna send somebody to get her? Have her followed?" She rolls her eyes. "You see too many movies, Jessica."
Jessica just smiles. "Oh, sweetheart. This isn't some movie."
I gasp loudly, my heart thudding in my ears. "You're still obsessed about this?" The voice is so serene, but the hands under the table are shaking. "It was high school, Jessica."
Her face blankly erases itself. "And you still don't get it."
She leans forward once more now, so close I can see the cruel glint of amusement winking at me in her eyes. "You took everything from me."
Her voice drops to a whisper afterward.
"So now. I will take everything from you."
I get a cold shiver down my spine.
Brielle stands up abruptly. "Alright, we are done here." She grabs my wrist. "Sarah, let's go."
Jessica does not stop us. She simply watches while we stand, a smile on her lips that is almost victorious.
"Oh, and Sarah?"
I hesitate but do not turn back.
Her voice was sweet. Sickly sweet. "Tell Lucian I said hello."
My heart is pounding as I let Brielle drag me out of the bar.
The biting cold night air hit me in the face, but there was nothing it could do to suppress the storm brewing in my head.
Brielle looks at me and, with her face scrunched up in purple fury, asks, "That psycho still bears a grudge?"
I shake my head, gasping. "Bri, this is bad."
Brielle snorts. "She's bluffing. She's just trying to scare you."
I don't respond. For in the very center of me, I know Jessica Blake. And she does not bluff.