#Chapter 47: Paranoia

Agnes For a few moments, Olivia and the other women just stared up at me. I couldn’t tell if they were astonished by my sudden appearance or silently mocking me, but it didn’t take long for me to find out. They laughed. Right in my face. Olivia’s laughter was the loudest. My breath hitched, and for a moment, I just stood there utterly frozen with my fists balled up at my sides. “Oh, don’t flatter yourself, Agnes,” Olivia said, her voice dripping with condescension. “Not everything is about you, you know. We were having a completely unrelated discussion.” I blinked at her, stunned at how easily the lie slipped from her lips. “I heard you talking,” I said, folding my arms across my chest. “You were clearly talking about me.” She rolled her eyes and gestured vaguely toward the women surrounding her, all of whom looked between us with varying degrees of amusement. “You heard snippets of a conversation that you weren’t a part of and immediately assumed it