Chapter 71: The quiet threat

Chapter 71: The Quiet Threat

Tennessee didn’t waste time. He found Gwen in the library, sitting cool as ever, a book half open on her lap but her eyes sharp as knives. The way she looked up when he stepped in told him she knew what was coming. No fear. No apology. Just that cold, calculating calm.

“Gwen,” Tennessee started, voice low but hard. “We need to talk about Audrey and maybe missing footages. The one from the kitchen. And the whole mess with Audrey.” He folded his arms, eyes narrowing. “You wanna explain why everything looks so damn clean? Why it’s like there’s nothing there to prove what we all know?”

Gwen’s smile was slow, almost mocking. She closed the book and set it aside with deliberate care. “Tennessee, Tennessee. You always think you’re the detective. You want answers, but you’re asking the wrong questions.” She stood, stepping closer, voice sweet but sharp like broken glass. “You think I’m the poisoner? You think I’m the mastermind? That’s cute.”

“Cut the act,” Tennessee snapped, taking a step closer. “We know what happened to Audrey. And don’t play innocent with me. The footage’s been scrubbed clean. You wiped it. You edited it. Why?”

Gwen shrugged, cool as ice. “I’m protecting my family. You really think I’m stupid enough to get caught on camera doing something that stupid?” She gave him a look that said, ‘Come at me if you dare.’

Tennessee clenched his jaw. “If you didn’t do it, then who did?”

Gwen leaned in, voice dropping so low only he could hear. “Maybe you should ask yourself that. Maybe the real threat isn’t me.”

“What is wrong with you?” Tennessee asked.

“Tell Yvonne to stop spreading wrong info please.” Gwen said. “Or I’ll be forced to send her away from the house.”

Tennessee stared. Gwen was calm, unshaken. But underneath that calm was something else. Something dangerous. A warning. She wasn’t just a sister causing drama, she was a player in this game, and Tennessee was just waking up to how deep it ran.

Across the mansion, Audrey’s condition slipped further into darkness. The pain in her leg was relentless, sharp, and unforgiving. The doctors moved quietly, their faces tight with worry. Yvonne stayed by Audrey’s side, watching every twitch, every tear.

Audrey’s sobs filled the room, loud, raw, heartbreaking. “I can’t,” she cried. “I can’t walk again. Not like this…please, I have so much to do.” Her voice cracked, the truth settling like a cold stone in her chest.

Yvonne squeezed her hand. “I’m here. We’ll fgure this out. We’re not giving up.”

But inside, Yvonne’s mind raced. Gwen’s smirk, the stolen footage, the lies—it all pointed to one thing. She had to find proof. Something solid. A clue.

Yvonne spent hours digging through Audrey’s things, searching through every drawer, every hidden corner. That’s when she found a small, sleek phone tucked behind a stack of unopened mail. It wasn’t Audrey’s. It wasn’t Tennessee’s. It was Gwen’s.

The screen lit up when she powered it on. Messages spilled out, secret conversations, coded words, plans. It was enough to shatter the façade Gwen had built. Yvonne’s heart pounded. This was the key.

Meanwhile, out on the farm, Thomas paced under the wide, empty sky. The night was creeping in, and the air felt heavy with unsaid threats. He glanced toward the mansion, the distant glow of lights flickering behind the trees.

His phone buzzed. A message from Scar Face blinked on the screen: “She still hasn’t come to the farm? Go over to the main house and find out why. Fuck Tennessee and go there.”

Thomas swallowed hard, fingers tightening around the phone. No more waiting. No more watching.

He moved silently through the fields, the crunch of dry leaves underfoot the only sound. The shadows swallowed him as he approached the mansion’s edge.

The world changed at night, the mansion transformed from a gilded palace into a fortress of secrets.

Thomas slipped through the shadows like a ghost, every step deliberate, eyes scanning for movement.

Tonight, the game changed. Fuck Tennessee!

Back inside, Tennessee paced, restless. Gwen’s words replayed in his head. “Maybe the real threat isn’t me.” Was she right? Was he looking in the wrong direction?

His phone buzzed with a text from Yvonne: “Found something. Meet me in the study.”

The house felt colder. The air thicker. Tennessee squared his shoulders. He had to know. He had to be ready.

Yvonne was waiting, her face grim as she slid the small phone across the desk.

Tennessee studied the screen, the secret conversations flashing by. “This changes everything.”

Yvonne nodded. “She’s been playing us all. Planning something bigger. Audrey’s not the only one in danger.”

Tennessee clenched his fists. “Then we stop her. Before it’s too late. Let’s read the conversations then I’ll call my dad.”

Tennessee and Yvonne looked confused, staring the screen. It was Gwen suddenly laughing. It was pre recorded.

“I bet you thought you found some evidence against me. Laugh out loud. That was me trolling and pranking. Quit looking in my direction, losers. I didn’t do shit.” Gwen laughed in the video and it went off.

Yvonne stormed out in anger.

Outside, the night deepened. Thomas moved closer to the mansion, every step pulling him deeper into a dangerous web.

The quiet threat was no longer quiet.

It was coming for them all.