Abandoned by All I Took It All Back novel Chapter 613

Janina paused the video and zoomed in. Everyone leaned closer to the screen. In the moment just before she jumped, Damaris's face, which had been so stoic, twisted in what was clearly agony.

"She could still feel pain, so why wasn't she screaming? That's strange," Queenie exclaimed.

Queenie's words struck a chord with Janina. It was true. Anyone facing death would feel terror, but Damaris hadn't—not until that final moment, when a flash of pain crossed her face.

Janina immediately thought of the dream she'd had a few days ago. In the dream, Damaris had looked anguished and sorrowful, as if she had suffered a great trauma. Then she was engulfed in flames, her mouth wide open in a silent scream. Her expression throughout had been one of pure torment.

As the pieces clicked into place, Janina felt like a jumbled wire in her brain had finally connected correctly. She quickly replayed the first video, watching it carefully from start to finish. Then she watched the second and third videos again.

From the devout kneeling at the tree to the elevator ride and finally pouring the gasoline on herself, Damaris's expression was consistently wooden and vacant, like a soulless puppet. Only in the instant before she leaped did her face show the extreme agony of a normal person in pain.

"Something's wrong. Something's very wrong with Damaris," Janina gasped, instinctively rising from the sofa and looking at Kenneth. When she met his 'I knew it' gaze, she sat back down. "Merrick, you noticed it too, didn't you?"

"After watching the videos a few times, I also think something's wrong. She might not have committed suicide," Melody said, her chin resting on her hand as her eyes remained fixed on the phone screen.

"What do you mean? If it wasn't suicide, was it murder? But the video clearly shows her pouring the gasoline on herself, and there was no one else there," Wendy said, her mind struggling to keep up.

Kenneth nodded appreciatively at Melody. "You're right. It's highly likely Damaris was drugged or controlled through some other means."

Janina immediately picked up the thread. "Damaris's series of abnormal behaviors strongly suggests her actions weren't her own. She was a formidable, capable woman, yet in a short time, she became a completely different person. And she told me to leave, to get far away. I think she knew something and was silenced because of it."

By now, Maggie had her phone out and was searching online for drugs that could make a person lose their self-awareness. She found something.

"Oh my god, they're real!" she exclaimed.