Before I could lift my head, an icy hand clamped tightly around my throat.
With a heavy thud, Jovan dropped to his knees, his voice shaking with barely contained sobs.
“Louis, my parents are just ordinary workers! Please, I’m begging you, let them go!”
He raised his phone, and on the screen, a middle-aged couple’s faces were smeared with blood as they bowed toward the camera.
“Louis! Please, have mercy. Our son will never dare to compete with you for Eliana again!”
Eliana wrenched the phone away, her eyes burning with rage.
“Louis! Have you lost your mind? You actually sent people to hurt Jovan’s parents?”
“I don’t even know them.” My tone was cold as I met Jovan’s gaze. “Great acting.”
“You’re still denying it!” Eliana slammed the phone down in front of me.
On the screen, the couple struck their own faces in desperation.
“They’re calling you by name, begging you!”
I inhaled slowly. “I didn’t do it.”
Jovan lunged forward, clutching my wrist.
“Louis, my parents are still lying in the hospital! They’ve lived honest lives, they would never….”
“Enough!” I yanked my hand free. “If you’re going to frame me, at least make it believable.”