Owen’s brows drew together, his bloodshot eyes full of hate as he glared at me. Facing his look of disgust, I forced a faint, bitter smile.
Back then, Owen and I truly loved each other, but my sister, who was battling depression, threatened to end her life. Helpless, I lied to him and said I loved someone else.
Later, when Zara Barnes went through that nightmare and jumped from the building in despair, I chose to protect the culprit, just to stay by Owen’s side.
When my mother saw my smile, she broke down again, rushing toward me and grabbing my throat. “You animal! You’re still smiling!”
“Zara died in pain!”
“What right do you have to keep living?”
Owen’s cold voice cut through the noise. “Mom, once the memory extraction succeeds and the truth is shown to everyone. If more than half vote for Juliette to die, she’ll go join Zara right away.”
My face turned pale, not from the fear of dying, but from the thought of my secrets being exposed.
“No! Owen, don’t do this! You can’t extract my memory! You’ll regret it!”
Owen let out a cold sneer, raising his hand as he pressed the Memory Extractor onto my head.