and yet you delayed!"
Alexandria staggered back as if she had been physically struck. "Victoria, no, I was only trying to—"
"Trying what? Save your career?" Victoria spat, convulsing in Ethan's arms. "I begged you! They had me locked up, they showed you the threats, they showed you that damn video, and still you took days to resign! Every time you hesitated, they came back and used me! Do you know what they did to me while you were deciding if your Dean title was worth more?"
She dissolved into hysterical, soul-wrenching sobs.
"They used me! They humiliated me! And all because you were too cowardly to sign a piece of paper!" Victoria screamed, her voice broken. "They did this to me because you hesitated!"
Alexandria stumbled backward, covering her face with her hands. The guilt over the kidnapping of Emily and Samantha was now compounded by the horrific, direct knowledge of what her inaction had cost her best friend.
