Chapter 25 The Matriarch's Protection

• The silence after Jessica Blackwood’s words was heavy,too heavy. The grand dining hall of the Blackwood estate, moments ago filled with sharp laughter and venomous whispers, suddenly turned as still as a mausoleum. Every relative, every guest, froze at the sound of the matriarch’s voice.
• “Enough,” she repeated softly, though her tone carried more command than any shout could. “This girl is stronger than all of you.”
• Elena blinked back the tears that had been threatening to fall. Her pulse hammered in her ears as the old woman’s cane tapped against the marble floor, echoing through the suffocating silence.