Lilian's lips curled into a wicked smile, her eyes glinting with cruel satisfaction. "Nicole... oh, sweet Nicole," she taunted, her voice laced with a venomous tone. "She's gone, Liam. Gone forever." Lilian reveled in the torment she was causing, relishing the pain she knew her words inflicted.

"She'll never return... not in this world or the next," she gasped, a haunting certainty in her tone. "You're left with the wreckage of my deeds... and the knowledge that I've taken everything ...