Chapter 22: Being Blamed

The servant who received the box was shaking with fear. The box was very valuable, and if it broke, it would be a huge problem. When he saw Madeline offer to take over, he quickly gave her the chance to handle it.

Ophelia was about to sleep when a knock on the door woke her. She got out of bed, opened the door, and saw Madeline. She asked in a cold tone, “What’s up?”

Madeline respectfully showed an old-looking box. “This was sent from Madam Pruitt for Mr. Winford. Since Mr. Winford isn’t here, I brought it to you, Mrs. Pruitt.”

Ophelia glanced at the box and nodded. “Set it down.”

Madeline walked in, put the box down, and then respectfully left the room. Ophelia went to look at the box but didn’t touch it. Not touching someone else’s things without permission was basic etiquette.

After Ophelia took a nap, Winford returned. As Ophelia descended the stairs, she overheard Madeline speaking to Winford, “I handed the box over to Mrs. Pruitt, Mr. Winford. You weren’t home just now, so I gave it to Mrs. Pruitt.”

Understanding that they were discussing the box, Ophelia said, “Yes, she gave the box to me.” She turned to get the box and handed it to Winford, curious. “Is this the jade pendant Grandma gave you?”

Winford nodded. “Yes.”

Graham, who was nearby, added, “This jade pendant was personally selected by Glenda at a temple for Mr. Winford, and I heard…” His voice suddenly stopped. There was complete silence. Winford’s face became very cold. In his hand, the open box showed that the previously perfect jade pendant had broken into several pieces.

The servant who first received the box turned pale and stuttered. “It’s not my fault, Mr. Winford! I didn’t break the jade pendant; it was Madeline!”

Madeline looked extremely shocked and glanced at Ophelia. “I gave it directly to Mrs. Pruitt as soon as I got it!”

Ophelia immediately became the center of everyone’s attention. Her gaze suddenly became cold. She understood the problem when she saw the broken jade pendant. The servants all looked at her, their eyes showing sympathy and pity. Winford could overlook many things, but he highly valued items from Glenda, especially something she went to great lengths to get for him. They knew that Ophelia was in deep trouble now.

Ophelia knew this too. She quickly looked at him. “I didn’t touch the box after getting it from Madeline. I don’t know how it broke.”

The jade pendant was whole when delivered, but now it was broken. She didn’t touch it, leaving only one suspect: Madeline. Seeing her anxiously defending herself and fearing a misunderstanding, Winford let out a sigh of relief, and his expression softened a bit. He was about to speak when suddenly he heard a voice coming from outside the door.

“Madam Pruitt is here!”

Everyone turned to the door and saw Glenda, supported by Elva, entering. “What’s going on here?” Glenda asked, then noticed the broken jade pendant. Her face changed immediately, and she rushed over. “What happened? Who broke it?”

“Madam Pruitt, you have to believe me!” Madeline suddenly knelt down. She cried out, “I took the box and then gave it to Mrs. Pruitt. Now the jade pendant is broken, and she might blame me… But I didn’t do it! If this accusation is placed on me, I couldn’t afford to pay even if I sold everything. It’s pushing me to my death!”

Elva said, “To break it like this, one would need to throw it with force. How could Madeline have done it? She’s just a servant. As she said, she couldn’t afford to pay even if she sold everything. Why would she deliberately break it? She would only do such a thing if she had gone mad.”

Eliminating Madeline’s suspicion left Ophelia as the main suspect. Glenda looked at Ophelia with a displeased expression. “You are Ophelia, right? Tell me the truth, did you break it?”

Ophelia hadn’t anticipated that her first meeting with Glenda after being reborn would be so confrontational. She didn’t know if Glenda already had a negative opinion of her based on preconceived notions. In her previous life, she wouldn’t have cared, but now, she wanted to live a good life with Winford, so she had to resolve these issues.

At this moment, she had composed herself. “Grandma, it wasn’t me.”

Elva immediately demanded, “Do you have any proof that it wasn’t you?”

Ophelia’s sharp gaze suddenly turned towards Elva. The jade pendant broke, and Glenda suddenly showed up. Was it all just a coincidence? Elva felt intimidated by Ophelia’s gaze and instinctively wanted to step back, but then she felt embarrassed and angry. Winford and Glenda were both present. What could Ophelia possibly do to her?

So, Elva continued to press, “Without any proof, how can you claim it wasn’t you?”

“Enough,” a deep voice interjected, and it was Winford speaking.

Elva bit her lip. “Mr. Winford?”

Winford ignored Elva and said to Glenda, “Let’s assume someone accidentally broke it. Don’t dwell on this. Grandma, thank you for your kindness in giving me this gift. When my leg injury heals, I will accompany you to the temple to get another one.”

Hearing this, Elva felt a surge of resentment. Winford was actually defending Ophelia!

Ophelia looked at Winford in surprise, feeling both touched and a sense of loss. She was glad he defended her but felt a sense of loss that he didn’t seem to believe her and thought she had broken it.

Glenda’s anger instantly disappeared, replaced by surprise and joy. Winford was speaking up for Ophelia. Glenda couldn’t help but glance at Ophelia. It seemed this girl was indeed special. If Ophelia could make Winford’s remaining time in this world happy, then Glenda wouldn’t mind if she broke countless jade pendants. Her eyes reddened, and Glenda said affectionately, “Alright.”

Elva was still unwilling to let it go. “But…”

At that moment, Ophelia gently tugged at Winford’s sleeve. “I have… proof.”

Winford asked, “What?”

“I said, I have proof to show I didn’t do it.”

Instantly, all eyes turned to Ophelia. She stood beside Winford, graceful and calm. “Do you have proof? What proof?” Elva asked anxiously.

Ophelia ignored her and looked at Madeline. “After you got the box, you gave it straight to me, right? No one else touched it, right?”

Madeline felt uneasy, but after thinking it through, she was sure that her act of dropping the box had been so discreet that Ophelia couldn’t have seen it.

So she stated firmly, “Yes, I gave it to you right after I got it. I didn’t give it to anyone else. And before that, downstairs, everyone saw me take the box. The jade pendant was undamaged then!”

Ophelia smirked slightly. She said, “I have a camera in my bedroom. We can check the surveillance footage to see if I touched the box after you gave it to me.”

Both Elva and Madeline’s expressions changed. A camera? When was it put in? Why didn’t they know about it? Madeline felt nervous and instinctively looked at Elva. Elva glanced at Madeline, hinting with her eyes that she must not admit to having done it. Ophelia was probably lying!