“When that girl was attacked, I was in Jason’s office. He testified for me. You’re his wife—you were just jealous she was younger and prettier, so you lost control and made a mistake.”
“I’ve been apologizing on your behalf, and you don’t even appreciate it. How can you throw baseless accusations like this?”
The words had barely left her lips before Emily’s family surged toward me.
“You monster! How dare you come to my daughter’s funeral?”
“She isn’t even cold in the ground, and you show up like this?”
“Did you come here to flaunt yourself? I’ll kill you and make you pay with your life!”
Though Chloe mouthed empty words about keeping calm, she deliberately stepped aside, giving them a clear path to reach me.
“Rachel, don’t you remember? You were the one who scratched her face in the stairwell. She screamed so loudly, even begged you on her knees to let her go—promising never to speak to my brother again…”
“And you had been drinking when you ran her down. Otherwise, why would you flee the scene?”
At that, Emily’s mother lunged forward and tore at my hair.
“You wretched woman! My daughter was only twenty! Just twenty when she died!”
“She used to tell me how wonderful the Miller Group was, and I was so happy for her. Who would’ve thought she’d run into a rabid dog like you?”
Dozens of slaps rained down on me. I struggled desperately, but Emily’s family pinned down my arms and legs.
“Keep hitting her! If the law can’t punish her, then we’ll do it ourselves!”
“Do it in front of Emily’s gravestone—let her see how we avenge her!”
I was thrown to the ground, blood bursting from my mouth as soon as I tried to speak.
“It wasn’t me…”
“You still dare to deny it? Keep beating her—make her confess!”
A brutal kick landed on my chest, the taste of blood flooding my throat. Like a stray dog, I tried to crawl away, but someone grabbed my ankle and dragged me back.
Fist after fist crashed into my face until I was unrecognizable, swollen and bleeding. Only when they grew tired did they pause to mourn their dead daughter.
Seizing my chance, I dragged myself up and clutched Chloe Miller’s arm, screaming:
“It was her! I was Emily Brooks’s lawyer—her last words were begging me to clear her name!”
Chloe sneered.
“Do you have any evidence? Defamation is illegal. I could have you arrested for this!”
“The evidence is at the Evans Law Firm!”