CHAPTER 77: CHAPTER-77. (THIS MEETING ENDS HERE).

Grace finally leaned back, looking uneasy. Even she no longer seemed smug. Nicole’s gaze was intense, dangerous, but focused. Dave’s calm presence cut through the tension like always.

The room fell into a tense silence, broken only by the soft sound of Caroline shuffling through her laptop bag.

She opened it slowly, hands still trembling, and started pulling out printed emails, screenshots, and files.

Each one she handed over carried the weight of months of fear, manipulation, and secrets.

"This is everything I have," she said softly. "Start from here. You will see how they worked, how every trap was planned, and how they monitored my every move.

And you will see why I had no choice... why I could not just speak up or fight them alone."

I felt a chill run down my spine as I glanced at the documents.

The emails were precise, threatening, subtle, almost casual, but beneath the words, the danger was sharp, like a knife hidden in silk.

Whoever these people were, they were not just smart; they were meticulous, invisible, and terrifyingly patient.

Nicole’s hand hovered over the papers, but he did not grab them. He let Caroline place them in front of him, like a map leading straight into the enemy’s lair.

Dave’s eyes scanned her quickly, then flicked up to us. "We start from here," he said, calm but firm.

"We have to study everything. Every word, every timestamp, every sender. There’s always a pattern. And once we find it..." He let the sentence hang in the air, unfinished but heavy with meaning.

Caroline exhaled shakily, relief mixed with fear. When Dave stood up from his place, buttoning up his jacket as he stated, "Okay, then this meeting ends here."

The room felt charged, the tension still thick, but for the first time, it felt like we had a plan.

We had the truth, messy and dangerous as it was, and maybe, just maybe, we had a chance to fight back.

***

The ride back was quiet...too quiet. The kind of silence that was not peaceful but heavy, pressing down on everyone.

Outside, the city lights blurred into long streaks through the window, but they did nothing to distract me. My chest felt tight, my mind restless.

Caroline sat beside me in the backseat. She had her hands folded in her lap, but her fingers kept moving, twisting the edge of her sleeve over and over again.

Her eyes were fixed on the glass, but I could tell she was not really seeing anything. It was like she had pulled herself into a shell, away from us, away from everything.

I leaned slightly toward her, keeping my voice low. "Caroline," I whispered, "you owe me the truth. That night at the club...what really happened?"

She stiffened instantly. I felt her whole body tense up, like I had struck a nerve. "Elena, please... don’t."

"Don’t what?" I pressed, my voice sharper this time. "Don’t ask questions? Don’t try to fix the mess we are all drowning in? You saw what happened today. Nicole’s not going to stop unless he hears it all. Neither will I."

Her lips parted, then closed again. She shook her head quickly, like a child refusing to accept something. "I can’t. I just... I cannot say it."

I sighed, my patience thinning. "Caroline, this is not just about you anymore. We are in this too. If you keep holding back, it’s only going to destroy all of us. You think silence protects you? It does not. It’s killing you."

Her shoulders slumped, and for the first time, she looked at me. Her eyes were glassy, rimmed red from holding back too many tears. She swallowed hard, her voice breaking as she whispered, "Fine. But don’t hate me for it."

"Try me." I said those words looking straight into her eyes trying to encourage her.

For a few seconds, all I could hear was the steady rhythm of the car engine. Then she broke.

Her voice came out raw. "I didn’t just go to that club randomly. I was sent there."

My stomach dropped. "Sent? By them? The Blackmailers?"

She nodded frantically as she continued, "They emailed me. Told me if I did not go, they had expose something else. I didn’t have a choice."

My chest tightened, anger and dread mixing.

She continued, words spilling out now. "When I got there, that man, the so-called pervert, he was not a stranger."

Her expression went grim as her knuckles started to get white as she gritted out, "He was with those blackmailers. He acted like he was harassing me, only to grab Nicole’s attention. And it worked. Nicole rushed in to protect me, and while he was distracted, they spiked his drink."

I felt my blood run cold. I could not believe my ears, realizing how deep the situation was. My gaze then met with Dave through the rear-view mirror.

He, too, was listening to all the things Caroline said. When our gaze met, he would have clearly seen the fear in my gaze as he nodded his head.

I took in a deep breath and waited for her to complete herself.

Caroline’s voice cracked. "He pretended to help him. He... he took him to a hotel room while I waited in that room. I thought to escape the same moment, but before I could even walk out of that room, he drugged me as well."

Tears streamed down her face now. "When I woke up the next morning, my body felt wrong. My head was pounding, my clothes undone. Nicole was lying beside me, still unconscious. I was too ashamed to face him, so I just... ran."

Her hands trembled violently as she clutched her lap. "And a few hours later... the email came. Photos. A video. Everything staged to look like... like we..." She choked, unable to finish.

The words sank into me like knives. My mind raced, piecing together everything Nicole had said earlier, everything Caroline had confessed now. The truth was worse than I had imagined.

She was not just a victim, but she, herself, had been used as bait.