Authority radiated from Kaleb like heat from forged steel, and his cutting tone sliced through Amilia’s and Karlee’s hysteria. They strangled their sobs mid-breath, neither daring to continue the dramatic display. Standing there with tears streaking their faces and panic distorting their features, they embodied the opposite of dignity—a humiliating contrast to the composure their wealth should have afforded them.
Edgar could barely contain his rage as he observed his daughter and granddaughter. Elsie released a weary sigh and said, “Tell us what happened.”
“Mother, you cannot let this savage walk away unpunished!” Amilia’s voice climbed to a shriek as she thrust an accusing finger toward Elliana.
“He took one look at Karlee’s beauty and started spewing vile suggestions—even tried to lay his filthy hands on her! When Karlee rejected him, the monster shattered her arm! I summoned the guards to protect her, and look what he did to every last one of them!”
Elliana’s lips curved into a cold sneer. Amilia had a remarkable talent for fabricating lies as easily as most people breathed.
Karlee leaped to support the fiction.
“Exactly! That brute even declared he wanted to marry into our family. When I refused his proposal, he exploded with fury!”
“And her!” Amilia swung her finger toward Bexley like a weapon.
“That Bexley woman! Heaven knows what sick relationship she shares with that animal, but she turned on us to defend him! That traitor deserves punishment just as severe!”
The butler and attending servants, who had witnessed every moment of the actual confrontation, stood in stunned silence at the mother-and-daughter duo’s audacity. They recognized the lies for what they were, yet fear sealed their lips.
Amilia and Karlee relied on that silence, which granted them the freedom to slander their victims without consequence. No matter how wildly their accusations spiraled, no one dared contradict them. To most, currying favor with these two carried far less risk than invoking their vengeance.
Amilia and Karlee smirked inwardly. This so-called miracle doctor had made a catastrophic error by causing chaos on the Thompson floors. He would be fortunate to escape with his life intact. Bexley wouldn’t fare any better.
M ? .
But Kaleb, Edgar, and Elsie hadn’t swallowed a single word of the women’s account. The pair had accumulated years of outrageous behavior and transparent falsehoods; whatever trust the family once held for them had evaporated like morning dew under harsh sunlight. Their faith in Bexley, by contrast, remained absolute and unshakeable. They couldn’t imagine her being involved in something so degrading.
Edgar’s fury choked him into silence. Elsie turned toward Bexley, gentleness softening her tone.
“Bexley, tell us what truly happened here.”
Rita stepped forward and offered a respectful bow to Edgar and Elsie, embarrassment flickering across her features.
“Dr. Atkinson is no savage. He never harassed Karlee in any way.” Rita hated dragging Edgar and Elsie into Amilia and Karlee’s manufactured drama, but defending her daughter left her no choice. She refused to let such poisonous accusations go unchallenged.
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