Ella

The atmosphere in the room shifts the moment Charlotte's voice cuts through the crowd, her words sharp and biting. I try my best to ignore her, but Charlotte is hell-bent on insulting me.

"You think you're so important, don't you, Ella?" she spits, her voice dripping with malice. "Everyone knows all you do is feed off powerful men like some kind of desperate leech."

I freeze. The quiet conversations around us begin to die down, and I can feel eyes turning toward us, ...