A Caged Songbird's Escape: Into the Arms of a Predator novel Chapter 534

Seeing her complete indifference, Jesse felt an inexplicable, brotherly urge to make sure she was truly okay. "Are you really over it?"

For some reason, the thought of her putting on a brave face bothered him. If she even hinted that she was upset, he would have done whatever it took to sabotage the wedding.

Elissa felt the genuine concern radiating from him and couldn't help but laugh. "I really am."

She was living a wonderful, beautiful life now.

She didn't have the time or energy to care about the choices other people made.

If they ran into each other down the line, she and Frank could probably still be cordial. If not, that was fine too.

Moving on peacefully was the best outcome.

Of course, she wasn't quite generous enough to stay active friends with him if he actually married Marcia.

Both of them had crossed the line too many times. Marcia, in particular, had actively tried to ruin her life on multiple occasions.

Seeing her genuine smile, Jesse finally relaxed and gestured toward the dessert. "Do you like that flavor?"

Elissa was about to give a polite 'yes', but sensing Jesse actually cared about her answer, she blinked and asked playfully, "Do you want the truth?"

Jesse felt an odd urge to reach out and ruffle her hair. "The truth."

The assistant, stepping back into the office to drop off some files, caught a glimpse of Jesse's unusually soft expression and nearly tripped over his own feet.

It was terrifying. Like seeing a ghost.

Once the door clicked shut, Elissa took a bite of the cake and smiled. "I love eating fresh mangoes, but the second it gets turned into a dessert or a flavor, I can't stand it."

Despite her critique, she kept eating, finishing the slice one bite at a time.

After a long stretch of silence, Elissa looked up to find Jesse staring blankly at the desk. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

"It's nothing." Jesse snapped back to reality, but the longer he looked at the girl sitting across from him, the more her image blurred with his memories of Vera.

*"Jesse, I like real mangoes, not mango candy! Duh!"*

He forced the nostalgic haze away and offered a soft explanation. "My little sister... she had the exact same quirk."

Elissa smiled warmly. "She loved mangoes, but hated mango cake?"

Jesse looked at her closely. "Do you like mango candy?"

"Absolutely not," Elissa answered without missing a beat.

Jesse subconsciously rubbed his hands together. "You two really are alike."

If the girl had nothing to hide, she wouldn't be guarding herself so obsessively.

Marcia even meticulously wiped the rims of any water glasses she used around the house to destroy any trace of her saliva.

"You know she's a fraud too, don't you?" Jesse pressed.

Laurel didn't have the patience to sugarcoat it. She frowned. "If she were real, would you be calling me right now?"

And Laurel certainly wouldn't be jumping through hoops to run a second test.

Jesse could feel his sister's irritation through the line, so he cut straight to the chase. "Then why don't we just—"

"Because pulling the weed up by the roots means digging through the mud," Laurel interrupted, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "What's the point of just kicking her out?"

Someone had found a way to tamper with the sample while they were all standing right there. If she forced another test now, the rats in the walls would just find another loophole.

If she was going to clean house, she was going to eradicate every single parasite.

If the Wilkinson family had been secure from the start, little Vera never would have been kidnapped in the first place!

Jesse fell silent, unable to argue with her logic. Finally, he asked the question burning in both of their minds. "If she isn't Vera, then why did the first test show a biological match?"

Where the hell did the authentic sample come from?