Chapter 105 The Woman Everyone Fears
Pamela backed away from the car immediately.
Not casually.
Not awkwardly.
Like instinct took over before she could stop it.
Lenora noticed every second of it.
The stiff shoulders.
The quick step back.
The way Pamela suddenly refused to look toward the car again.
That fear was real.
Lenora turned slowly toward her grandmother.
Still sitting inside the car.
Elegant.
Calm.
Terrifying without trying.
“Get in, Lenora,” she repeated.
Lenora didn’t move immediately.
Her eyes shifted back to Pamela.
“What do you know about her?” she asked quietly.
Pamela swallowed hard.
Wrong answer already written all over her face.
“Nothing,” she said too quickly.
Lenora almost laughed.
“Bad lie.”
The grandmother spoke again before Pamela could answer.
“Now.”
That one word changed the air completely.
Pamela stepped back again.
Like she didn’t even want to be standing nearby anymore.
Lenora’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“You’re scared of her.”
Pamela looked away.
Silence.
That silence answered enough.
Lenora turned back toward the car slowly.
Then got in.
The second the door shut—
The outside noise disappeared.
Her grandmother didn’t speak immediately.
The driver pulled away quietly.
Controlled.
Smooth.
Lenora looked out the window for a second before finally turning back.
“You knew Pamela would be there.”
Her grandmother adjusted her gloves calmly.
“Yes.”
No denial.
No pretending.
Lenora’s jaw tightened slightly.
“How?”
The older woman glanced at her.
“Because frightened people repeat patterns.”
That answer irritated her instantly.
“You keep talking in riddles.”
Her grandmother gave the faintest smile.
“And you keep expecting simple answers.”
Silence settled again.
Lenora crossed her arms.
“What does Pamela know?”
The grandmother looked ahead.
“Enough to be dangerous,” she said.
Lenora felt that one in her chest.
“And you?” she asked carefully.
The grandmother finally looked at her fully.
“I’m dangerous too.”
No hesitation.
No softness.
Just truth.
That should not have sounded real.
But it did.
Lenora stared at her quietly.
Trying to understand what sat underneath all this.
The rumors.
The setups.
The manipulation.
Then Pamela’s words replayed in her head.
His family is involved too.
Lenora looked back at her grandmother sharply.
“What does the hockey boy’s family have to do with this?”
For the first time—
The grandmother paused.
Just slightly.
Interesting.
“You’re getting attached,” she said instead.
Lenora frowned immediately.
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the more important problem,” her grandmother replied.
Lenora looked away briefly.
Annoyed now.
“You think everything is about control,” she muttered.
Her grandmother’s expression barely shifted.
“That’s because most things are.”
The car turned into a quieter road.
Not home.
Lenora noticed immediately.
“Where are we going?”
“You need perspective,” the grandmother replied calmly.
That sounded ominous.
Lenora leaned back slowly.
“I’m starting to think you enjoy being mysterious.”
The older woman almost smiled again.
“You’d be surprised what people reveal when they’re trying to protect themselves.”
That line stayed in Lenora’s head.
Because suddenly—
Pamela made more sense.
She wasn’t protecting Lenora.
She was protecting herself too.
The car finally slowed near a large building downtown.
Old money.
Private.
Quiet.
Lenora frowned slightly.
“What is this place?”
Her grandmother stepped out first.
“You’ll see.”
Great.
Another cryptic answer.
Lenora followed her inside.
Immediately, the atmosphere changed.
Soft conversations.
Expensive furniture.
People dressed too formally for a random afternoon.
And the second her grandmother walked in—
People noticed.
Not casually either.
Respect.
Fear.
Attention.
Lenora caught it instantly.
The lowered voices.
The careful greetings.
The way people stepped aside slightly.
Her grandmother was powerful here.
Very powerful.
A woman approached them with a polite smile.
“Mrs. Laurent,” she greeted carefully.
Her grandmother nodded once.
Then kept walking.
Lenora followed closely.
Trying not to look as unsettled as she felt.
“You own this place or something?” she asked quietly.
“No,” her grandmother replied.
A pause.
“I built it.”
That answer hit differently.
Lenora slowed slightly.
Because suddenly—
The rumors around her grandmother didn’t feel exaggerated anymore.
They entered a quieter private room upstairs.
The moment the door shut, Lenora turned immediately.
“Okay. Enough.”
Her grandmother sat calmly.
“You’re going to tell me what’s actually happening.”
Silence.
Then the older woman looked directly at her.
“You want the truth?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Another pause.
Then—
“The hockey boy’s family and ours were never supposed to reconnect.”
Lenora froze slightly.
“What?”
Her grandmother’s expression stayed calm.
Too calm.
“There are old ties between the families,” she continued.
Lenora’s chest tightened slowly.
“What kind of ties?”
Her grandmother leaned back slightly.
“The kind that destroy people when repeated.”
That answer made irritation spike immediately.
“Can you stop doing that?” Lenora snapped. “Stop talking like everything is some dramatic secret.”
The grandmother’s gaze sharpened slightly.
“You think this is drama?” she asked quietly.
The room suddenly felt colder.
“This family survived things you know nothing about.”
Lenora held her stare.
“Then tell me.”
Silence stretched.
Long.
Heavy.
Then the grandmother said the one thing Lenora wasn’t expecting.
“Your mother knew his father first.”
Lenora blinked once.
“What?”
The grandmother’s voice remained steady.
“Before marriages. Before children. Before this family became what it is now.”
Lenora stared at her.
Trying to process it.
“No,” she said slowly.
The grandmother didn’t stop.
“Some people never forgave the choices that followed,” she continued.
Choices.
Suddenly the room felt too small.
Lenora shook her head slightly.
“What does that have to do with me?”
The grandmother’s eyes held hers.
“Everything.”
Silence crashed between them.
Because now—
This wasn’t just school drama anymore.
This wasn’t just rumors.
This was old family damage bleeding into a new generation.
And somehow—
Lenora had walked directly into the center of it.
Without even knowing.