Chapter 68

"I deserve death! I only meant to take Lucky to play on the rockery, but he fell into a crevice. Afraid of punishment, I dared not speak the truth," Diprosta finished, cowering slightly as she turned to look at Willow.

Her voice trembling with desperation, Danielle pleaded, "Miss Monson, please don't abandon me."

The cup slipped from Willow's grasp, shattering into pieces as it hit the floor.

The color drained from Willow's face, leaving it ghostly pale. Her eyes widened in utter disbelief as her body trembled slightly.

"No, I didn't…" Pearls of tears streamed down Willow's face as she panicked, desperately clutching at Eloise's sleeve. "Mother, you must believe me! I truly didn't know. Danielle is framing me!"

With that, Willow broke down in loud, uncontrollable sobs, her cries trembling with anguish and fear.

But before her sobs could continue, Athena’s furious shout cut through. "Shut up!"

Terrified, Willow looked up to see Athena glaring at her, eyes blazing with fury. Athena snapped, "The proof and witnesses are all here. How dare you keep lying?"

With that, a heavy bundle was slammed down at Willow's feet.

Willow let out a terrified shriek and darted behind Eloise like a startled rabbit.

Eloise was just about to comfort her when her gaze was abruptly drawn to the bundle on the floor, her words dying on her lips.

When she opened it, she saw nothing but loose silver coins and jewelry inside.

Among them, a vibrant green emerald bracelet stood out; it was the very one Eloise had given to Willow.

Eloise's face instantly turned ashen, her voice quivering as she demanded, "What is the meaning of this?"

Nicolas froze momentarily, his expression conflicted as he looked at Willow.

The pile of jewelry also included the hairpin he had given to Willow.

But Matthew blindly jumped to Willow's defense. "What's there to explain? Obviously, Danielle must have stolen Willow's things and tried to flee under the cover of night. As for Lucky, that has even less to do with Willow. She's so kind-hearted, she wouldn't even harm a fly, let alone hurt Lucky."

Athena sneered. "Exactly what I can't figure out. Lucky's just a little dog. Why on earth would she want to hurt it?"

This was exactly what puzzled Athena.

Athena gave Danielle a sharp kick and demanded, "Speak up!"

Danielle trembled as she stammered, "Because this puppy was originally meant by Lord Osborne to be a gift for you."

With that, she lowered her head, not daring to meet anyone’s gaze.

Danielle, her voice trembling, said, "When Lord Osborne brought Lucky over, I happened to overhear him say the puppy was meant for Lady Athena. But for some reason unknown to me, it ended up being given to Mrs. Margaret instead."

The others didn't know, but Eloise did.

Since childhood, Athena had always loved cats and dogs. On her twelfth birthday, Michael gave her a snow white puppy.

But somehow, the puppy died in the pond.

Athena wept for days over this. From that moment on, she never went near cats or dogs again.

Over the years, everyone else had long forgotten about it.

But Eloise remembered; even now, she could still vividly recall how Athena’s little face was streaked with tears, making her look heartbreakingly pitiful as she tried.

Eloise and Nicolas cast doubtful glances at Willow, yet neither could bring themselves to voice the questions weighing on their minds.

Eloise and Nicolas simply couldn't believe Willow would do such a thing.

Willow was sobbing uncontrollably, shaking her head in denial. "No, it's not like that," she wailed. "I never meant to harm Athena!"

Her excuses were so flimsy that they carried no weight at all.

Athena remembered that day at Starling House, how Lucky had barked wildly at her.

Back then, Willow must have loathed Lucky intensely.

"You still won't tell the truth?" Athena suddenly snapped, her voice sharp and commanding, startling Willow into choking back her sobs.

Willow stared at Athena with wide, panicked eyes, fear and confusion written all over her face. Her voice trembling, she pleaded, "I swear I never meant to hurt Lucky! I just wanted to get closer to him, so I used some jerky treats to play with him. I had no idea there was a gap in the rockery, and he… I was just so scared…"

Seeing Willow's pitiful look only fueled Athena's rage. She shouted furiously, "Didn't you know Grandmother cherished Lucky dearly? She fainted from shock the moment she heard he was missing! If you'd spoken up sooner, we could have found him right away. Why put us through all this trouble?"

Willow sobbed convulsively, her cries interrupted by occasional coughs. Eloise longed to shield her, but seeing Athena’s blazing fury, she forced herself to hold back.

Eloise thought, "If I stand up for Willow now, Athena might just rush over and slap me!"

Willow said, "But Lucky got trapped in the crevice of the rocks. To save him, we'd have to split the rocks apart, and then…"

Before she could finish, Athena cut in sharply. "So you'd become the culprit of the Monson family. Better for me to take the blame than you, is that it?"

Willow frantically shook her head. "No, it's not like that! Lucky is just a dog. We could just get Grandmother another one if he died. I just never thought Grandmother would get so upset and fall…"

A sudden slap landed across Willow’s face.

Eloise reached out to stop her, but she was a moment too late.

Willow’s cheek instantly swelled crimson. With a sharp cry, she clutched her stinging face and scrambled into Eloise’s arms. "Mother, save me!" she wailed, her voice trembling with fear.

Eloise, already heartbroken with pity, quickly pulled Willow into her arms.

Meeting Athena's furious gaze, Eloise pleaded for Willow, her voice trembling with maternal concern. "Athena, she's truly repentant now. Won't you show her some mercy?"

Athena's eyes brimmed with disappointment as she glared at Eloise. "Even after all this, you still shield her? Do you even have a sense of right and wrong? She nearly caused Grandmother's collapse! If anything had happened to her, you'd be the disgrace of the Monson family!"

Eloise, stung by Athena’s harsh and contemptuous scolding, felt her eyes well up with tears. Choking back sobs, she cried out, "Athena, you…"

Her eyes brimmed with hurt. "How could Athena say such things to me?" Eloise thought, her heart aching with betrayal.

"Athena!" Nicolas roared, slamming his hands on the table as he stood up. "How dare you speak to your mother like that? This is outright defiance!"

The word "defiance" hung in the air, freezing both Nicolas and Eloise.

Defiance was one of the ten abominations of family rule.

Parents could accuse their children of defiance before the authorities. If convicted, the children would face the harshest corporal punishment under the law.

The moment the words left Nicolas’s lips, he froze in shock.

Punishing Athena was trivial, but if she were to be caned in public, he would lose face as well.

Perhaps realizing he had gone too far, Nicolas softened his tone and said, "You mustn't speak to Mother like that. Even if Willow was at fault, she meant no harm."

"Enough talk. I'm warning you now, lay a finger on Willow and you'll regret it," Matthew growled, utterly disgusted by Athena’s reckless arrogance.

Matthew thought, "Even if Willow was at fault, I just couldn't stand the arrogant look on Athena's face."