Chapter 24: Confrontation at Stone Villa

Meryl shot Lydia a cold glance. "This is my home. It’s perfectly normal for me to be here."

Lydia’s expression froze as soon as she noticed the scarf Meryl was holding. Lydia, of course, knew that scarf belonged to Dalton. Meryl had kept it like a treasure for the last ten years.

"Are you planning to apologize to Dalton with that? Are you trying to win him back?" Lydia asked.

Meryl didn’t want to get caught up in too much back-and-forth, so she replied softly, "You’re reading too much into it. I never planned on that."

"You’ve probably seen the news, haven’t you?" Lydia asked out of the blue. The news about her and Dalton from that morning must have caused quite a stir by now.

The paparazzi were hired by Lydia herself. Her original plan was to take the photos they snapped and cry to Dalton, saying their affair was about to be exposed. Obviously, she had no real intention of exposing it. She was just putting on a show in front of Dalton.

Lydia assumed Dalton would rush home to plead with his mother to switch his fiancée to her, hoping to keep the gossip down. She was sure the Aniston family wouldn’t object to protecting their reputation. After all, if the scandal got out, the Aniston family would also be thrust into the spotlight, facing far more severe consequences than simply marrying her. This was the only way Lydia could think of to marry Dalton.

However, despite all her careful planning, something had gone wrong. The paparazzi turned out to be TV reporters. Lydia was shocked when she stepped out of the hotel room this morning and was confronted by dozens of cameras. The situation blew up and even made it to the morning news, making it difficult to manage.

By now, the entire nation was aware of Lydia and Dalton’s fling and that she had snagged her sister’s man. She had no idea what the Aniston family’s stance was, but rumors were that Galaxy Holdings Group’s stock price had plummeted at the opening bell this morning. What could have been solved with a few intimate photos got blown wide open by the reporters, leaving Lydia irritated and her reputation in shambles. She regretted being too impulsive and was furious, wondering who had called the TV reporters and completely messed up her plan.

"Meryl, you must have seen Dalton protecting me in front of the camera, right? He only cares about me." Lydia pulled herself together, her gaze dripping with sarcasm as she stared at Meryl. "Do you really think Dalton would give you the time of day if you apologized now?"

Meryl didn’t want to waste any more breath on Lydia and replied, "Since you enjoy picking men out of the trash, Dalton is all yours. I couldn’t care less." With that, she moved past Lydia, ready to leave.

Meryl’s expression remained utterly indifferent when Dalton was brought up. Lydia was stunned, unable to believe it. "You’re really not going to marry Dalton? Then what’s the scarf for? Aren’t you planning to use it to remind Dalton of the past and win him back?"

Meryl looked down at the scarf in her hand and said, "I was planning to throw it away." With that, she casually tossed it into the trash can beside her.

Lydia was shocked and was about to say something when a loud yell came from upstairs, "Meryl! What did you do to your sister? Why is she on the floor?"

Bianca hurried downstairs, seeing Lydia on the floor, practically fuming with anger. "Did you push your sister?" She helped Lydia up and angrily confronted Meryl. "How can you be so cruel, causing trouble as soon as you get home? Are you trying to drive me crazy?"

Bianca carefully checked Lydia over, only relaxing once she confirmed Lydia wasn’t hurt.

Meryl, on the other hand, felt completely calm as she had already lost faith in her family that night. "I didn’t push her. If you don’t believe me, ask her yourself."

Bianca looked at Lydia, who quickly explained, "I tripped and fell on my own, Mom."

Bianca was taken aback. "Lydia, you don’t need to cover for Meryl. If you’re wronged, just tell me."

"I really did fall on my own." Lydia then glanced at Meryl. "Meryl, don’t be mad at Mom. She only misunderstood because she didn’t know."

With her eyes cast down and a smirk on her lips, Meryl, who was ready to step away, sneered, "Did you see the news this morning, Mom?"