Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

Lauren's gaze locked onto Betty's hideous face, her eyes now ablaze with defiance. The lifelessness that had marred her eyes after the torture was replaced with a fierce emotion that only fueled Betty's anger further.

"Don't you dare look at me like that, you stupid bitch!" Betty spat, her eyes flashing with fury, eager to deliver another kick to Lauren before Zoe intervened.

"That's enough. Save your anger for later," Zoe admonished Betty, halting her aggression.

Mason let out a lazy yawn, breaking the tension. "Zoe, what's the point of dragging us all the way to this godforsaken place from different corners of the world? Couldn't you have chosen a more decent venue for our reunion?"

Freddy shot him a cold glance. "Could you have witnessed this anywhere else? After all these years, you still sound like a spoiled brat."

"Damn it, you little piece of—"

Mason wanted to cuss Freddy out, but the woman in the red dress stopped him with a shake of her head.

gained power in the political scene in Solana City, these wealthy individuals lacked any semblance of moral integrity; all

us here?" the man in the

the corner. Lifting the lid, she revealed keys that looked as pristine as the day they were made. She then ran her fingers across the keys, eliciting an eerie

mask of terror and despair contorting her features. She bit

music room in the past, and Zoe would play the piano to accompany the cruel act with music. The physical and mental abuse had deeply traumatized Lauren, exacerbating her psychological

you guys," Zoe declared, flicking her tidy brown curls and offering a fake smile as she charmingly addressed the group. "But I also have another

sent a ripple of

dress laughed incredulously. "Zoe, where on earth did

retrieved her phone and played a video from ten years ago, showing her cornering Lauren and slapping

remember all of you being there, so I suggest you'd better come clean now." However, silence filled the

eyes gleamed with malice as she swept her gaze across the group. "Well, if you don't want to confess, that's fine. But I expect the woman

something on each