Page 64 of The Sins of Noelle

Cisco, more than Noelle, knew that the situation was even worse than what was portrayed in the media. Despite the fact that various sources were speculating on Noelle's involvement due to her behavior at the concert, there had been no evidence to condemn her as officially guilty.

But Cisco was the only reason why there had beennoevidence.

With Thomas' additional shot, Ann Marie's parents had asked for an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Though the autopsy had yielded no conclusive evidence as to whether it had been Thomas' shot or her own that killed her, it had revealed something very interesting about the angle of the shot.

It had been skewed.

So skewed, in fact, that Ann Marie couldn't have turned her hand in such a manner.

Ballistics experts had weighed in, and the conclusion had been that someone must have held the gun to her chin when she'd accidentally pressed on the trigger, making the case a homicide instead of suicide.

Of course, none of that information had ever seen the light of the day.

Cisco had made sure to bury everything pertaining to the case and pay off the experts from testifying. And with Ann Marie's parents demanding her remains be cremated, it had been the perfect opportunity to get rid of all the evidence.

The official reports stated that it had been suicide, and that was whateveryoneneeded to believe.

Due to the controversial nature of the scandal and the fact that people were bent on scrutinizing Noelle's every move, he couldn't risk anyone looking closer into the case.

And just as he'd told Yuyu, he didn't think it was normal. Not how Noelle had reacted in the immediate aftermath of Ann Marie's death, and not now, a week after.

Yuyu was worried about her too, and Cisco had asked her to keep a close eye on Noelle and tell him if she noticed anything out of the ordinary.

While Cisco looked at the facts and concluded something was wrong, Yuyu looked at Noelle's emotive displays, determining the same thing.

"I wasn't much older than her when I killed my first target," Yuyu had told him. "Remember how I reacted?"

Cisco did remember. It had been one of the hardest moments in his life, and one where he couldalmostempathize with another person. Though her target deserved it, Yuyu had been guilt stricken for weeks afterwards, shutting herself from the world and becoming a shell of her person. She couldn't even talk about it without bursting into tears.

That she'd become one of the most wanted assassins in the country's history was a testament to her resilience and the fact that she'd learned how to regulate her emotions—how to separate her job from who she was.

Still, the fact that Cisco had basically forced her into a life that was so antithetic to who she was at her core was one of his deepest regrets. Yet once more, he'd only realized that too late.

Always too late…

He didn't want to make the same mistake now with his sister.

And Yuyu's conclusions about her behavior had only reinforced his worries.

Noelle hadnotacted as someone who'd had a hand in a person's death. She didn't even act as someone who'd seen death up close, which could be just as traumatizing.

And that begged the question…why?

The following day, Noelle was sent back upstate. Upon arriving, Elena pretended to be the model of decorum while other people were around, but as soon as they were alone, she finally showed her true colors—and the contempt she held Noelle for turning her life upside down.

Noelle was unpacking her luggage, still bummed about returning home when the door to her room suddenly burst open.

"Damn you, Noelle! Damn you to hell," Elena yelled.

Noelle barely had time to turn when Elena pulled on her hair, her fingers lodged in her scalp. She gave a small yelp of pain as she stumbled to her knees. But Elena had plenty of time to continue, slap after slap coming down on her face.

"Stop," Noelle pleaded. "Stop, please," she whimpered when she felt the sting in her scalp, only to see a big chunk of her hair in her mother's grasp.

"I can't show my face anywhere because of you! Everyone is asking me about the murderer of a daughter—the monster I gave birth to," she spat at Noelle, kicking her to the ground.

Curling into a fetal position, Noelle attempted to regulate her breath long enough to pull herself together. But Elena wasn't done.

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