“How stupid do you think I am, Charlene? I don’t even know if whatever you said is true. Maybe you’re telling the truth, or maybe you’re just making things up! Besides, you said it yourself. You hate me. Why would you suddenly tell me anything just because you got out of prison?”

Panic surfaced and settled in Charlene’s eyes.

Deirdre nailed it. Charlene never planned to tell her the truth. If this piece of information was enough to get her out of prison, then, Charlene could continue using it as leverage against Deirdre.

“Who says I won’t? It’s not like it’s anything useful to me!” Charlene blustered. “I’ll tell you if you make Bren release me from prison within a month.”

Deirdre snickered so coldly that Charlene shuddered. “So sorry to disappoint you then, Miss McKinney.”

Charlene’s heart raced. “What’s that supposed to mean? You’re telling me you don’t care about your own father? That you don’t care about why he’s never come to see you, or where he is now?”

Deirdre deadpanned.