Ella POV “Several women have come forward in recent days to confess that their stories about Alexander Black were fabricated,” the female reporter said, her dark eyes fixed directly on the camera. I wasn’t looking at the television; my gaze was locked on my mother, who stared at the screen, her mouth set in a firm line as she absorbed the reporter's words. After the confrontation at the shopping center, Gretchen and Hyacinth posted apologies on their social media pages, confessing that they had no history with Alexander and that their stories had been planted. Cassandra had deleted all her social media accounts. It seemed the confessions from the others had prompted some women involved in David's plot to step forward. Two more had confessed, guilt-ridden, that they had been paid by an

