Chapter 94 Lines Get Crossed Far
Silence didn’t last long.
It never did around them.
Kylen’s words hung in the room like something that couldn’t be taken back.
“They’re saying someone brought Pamela back to push things toward you.”
Lilibeth turned to Lenora slowly.
“That’s not just gossip,” she said.
Lenora didn’t respond immediately.
Because it didn’t feel like gossip either.
It felt targeted.
“Who’s saying it?” Lenora asked finally.
Kylen ran a hand through his hair.
“Everyone and no one,” he said. “It started small. Now it’s everywhere.”
Lilibeth let out a breath.
“That means someone planted it,” she said.
Kylen nodded.
“Exactly.”
Lenora stood up.
Walked a few steps away.
Then turned back.
“So now I’m the reason Pamela came back,” she said.
Kylen watched her carefully.
“That’s how it’s being framed.”
Lilibeth shook her head.
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
Lenora gave a small, dry smile.
“It doesn’t have to make sense,” she said. “It just has to spread.”
That hit.
Kylen stepped closer.
“This is getting out of hand,” he said.
Lenora looked at him.
“No,” she said quietly.
A pause.
“It’s already out of hand.”
Silence again.
Lilibeth crossed her arms tighter.
“My dad shows up. Warns me about you. Now this starts spreading?” she said. “That’s not coincidence.”
Kylen looked between them.
“You think he’s connected?”
Lilibeth didn’t answer immediately.
But she didn’t deny it either.
Lenora noticed that.
And it didn’t sit well.
“You think your father has something to do with this?” Lenora asked.
Lilibeth met her eyes.
“I think he knows something,” she said.
That wasn’t the same answer.
Kylen exhaled.
“We’re connecting too many things at once.”
Lenora shook her head slightly.
“No,” she said. “We’re finally connecting the right ones.”
A pause.
Then—
Another knock.
All three of them froze.
Kylen frowned.
“You expecting someone else?”
Lenora shook her head.
“No.”
The knock came again.
Slower.
Heavier.
Lilibeth stepped back slightly.
“Why does this feel like a bad idea?”
Kylen moved first this time.
“I’ll get it.”
Lenora didn’t stop him.
But she didn’t like it.
He opened the door.
And froze.
Lenora stood up immediately.
“What—”
She stopped.
Pamela.
Standing there.
Not hesitant.
Not unsure.
Like she had every reason to be there.
Kylen stepped slightly in front of the doorway.
“What do you want?” he asked.
Pamela didn’t look at him.
Her eyes were on Lenora.
“I need to talk to you,” she said.
Lilibeth let out a short, disbelieving breath.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Lenora stepped forward.
Past Kylen.
Closer to the door.
“Talk,” she said.
Pamela didn’t move inside.
Didn’t ask.
Just stayed where she was.
“Not here,” she said.
Kylen shook his head.
“No.”
Pamela finally looked at him.
“I wasn’t asking you,” she said calmly.
That didn’t help.
Lilibeth stepped forward now.
“You don’t just show up here like this,” she said. “After everything—”
Pamela cut her off.
“This isn’t about you.”
That hit sharp.
Lenora raised a hand slightly.
“Stop,” she said.
Both of them went quiet.
Lenora looked at Pamela.
“Say what you came to say.”
Pamela hesitated.
Just slightly.
Then—
“They’re using my name to get to you,” she said.
Silence.
Kylen frowned.
“We already know that.”
Pamela shook her head.
“No,” she said.
A pause.
“You don’t understand how far it goes.”
That changed the tone.
Lenora stepped closer.
“How far?” she asked.
Pamela met her eyes.
“They’re not just talking,” she said.
Another pause.
“They’re planning.”
The room felt tighter.
Lilibeth frowned.
“Planning what?”
Pamela didn’t answer that directly.
Instead, she said something worse.
“I wasn’t supposed to come here tonight.”
Kylen’s expression hardened.
“Then why are you here?”
Pamela looked at Lenora.
“Because if I didn’t come,” she said, “you wouldn’t see it coming.”
Silence dropped hard.
Lenora’s voice lowered slightly.
“See what coming?”
Pamela didn’t hesitate this time.
“They’re about to turn everyone against you,” she said.
Lilibeth let out a quiet breath.
“That’s already happening.”
Pamela shook her head again.
“No,” she said.
A pause.
“This time it won’t be whispers.”
Kylen’s jaw tightened.
“What does that mean?”
Pamela’s voice stayed calm.
Too calm.
“It means something is about to happen,” she said.
Another pause.
“And when it does…”
Her eyes stayed locked on Lenora.
“No one’s going to be on your side.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Real.
Lenora didn’t step back.
Didn’t panic.
She just asked one thing.
“Why are you telling me this?”
Pamela held her gaze.
“Because I’m already part of it,” she said.
And that?
That was worse than anything else she’d said.