Requiem of a Broken Heart

Chapter 324:

She left Kate sprawled on the floor, bruised and humiliated, her once-pristine clothes in tatters.

Leaning down, Rachel’s voice was like ice. “Listen to me, Kate Marsh. If you ever lay a finger on Jeffrey again—if anything happens to him—I swear I’ll drag you down with me. And don’t even think about tattling to your mom or my dad. If they find out about today, I’ll make sure you regret it.”

Kate, stubborn as ever, clenched her jaw.

Rachel wasn’t worried. She crouched lower, her gaze drilling into Kate’s. “I know what you’re thinking. You’ll run to your mommy, cry to her, and have her punish us.”

Rachel tilted her head, smiling darkly. “But here’s the thing, Kate—I don’t care about life or death. I have nothing to lose. You, on the other hand? You’re a pampered little princess with everything laid out for you. You have a future.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Are you really ready to throw that away?”

For the first time, Kate looked scared. Real fear seeped into her wide eyes as she nodded frantically. “I won’t! I swear, I won’t do it again. I don’t want to die!”

Rachel gave her one last cold look. “You’d better mean it. Because if I go down, I’m taking someone with me.”

slow, trembling breath. And then, as if all the strength had been sucked out of her,

She had only parroted what she had once heard Moira say—threats meant to strike fear. Back then, she had thought Moira was cruel for using them. She never imagined she’d one day throw them back at

cruel words had once shattered Jeffrey’s heart, and

shook off her memories and brought her thoughts back to the present, feeling bitter

“promise me you’ll never do

returning. “As long as you remain by my side, I’ll go nowhere. I’ll stay with you forever. When you and Brian

l no v

of this imagined future, countless words Rachel yearned to express became

you

still couldn’t bring herself to voice the

I will also grow old, pass away, and leave you?” Finally, she expressed this inevitable

“No, that won’t happen. You won’t die. Rachel…” His voice had diminished to a whisper, clearly revealing