Chapter 32
â Fenwick ⦠this time , it canât possibly be fake , right ? â Torin spoke with difficulty , his voice tight , barely holding together
He didnât want in believe it .
He couldnât bear the thought that Althea , someone he had trusted , could be this kind of person .
But there it was , undeniable .
Althea had hurt Elyun â humiliated her , and worse , threatened to destroy her completely .
The word â ruined â seemed almost like a prophecy , confirmed by everything that had happened yesterday
Torin couldnât help but think , â What if everything we believed to be Elysiaâs fault was just a series of false accusations and misunderstandings ? What am I supposed to do now
A wave of unease washed over him .
His mind raced , and his heart pounded as he thought about how , because of a misunderstanding , he had resented Elysia for twenty years .
But the livestream didnât wait for him to figure it out .
The next scene unfolded right before their eyes .
The live â streaming screen now flushed with comments .
[ Is this a school ? ]
[ Wow , Elysiaâs finally going to school ! But wait , why is she in middle school? She didnât even finish kindergarten , and theyâre throwing her into middle school ?
[ What a joke ! No wonder Elysia skipped school and became such a rebellious teen .
]
[ So what ? If sheâs not talented enough or doesnât have the ability , thatâs on her .
Look at her â sheâs still smiling like everythingâs finc
[ Itâs been this long , and she still hasnât bothered in fix her hair ? What a show â off .
)
The camera showed Elysa standing alone by the school pac , looking fragile and out of place .
Her hair fell over her forehead , almost obscuring her face , but she didnât seem bothered enough to push it aside .
â Oh , youâre being good , huh ? Waiting for me here like the Rowena , also in the middle school uniform , stepped into view
While they were dressed the same , the difference between them was glaring
Rowen wore shiny , stylish shoes and had her hair curled into a cure lile princess style .
Her skirt was even shorter than Elysiaâs , showing off her smooth , fair legs
tired from walking here ? â she asked , her tone dripping with c
.
condescension .
Elysiaâs smile faltered the momen she saw her .
The warn expression evaporated , leaving only a quiet , heavy silence .
Bat Rowena didnât notice .
She continued her tone sharp with mock sweetness .
â And your hair ! I could use a little more trimming .
Itâs covering your chin .
Want me to help with that ?
She pulled out an eyebrow pencil , threatening to jah it at Elysiaâs chin .
Elysia tilted her head .
trying to avoid it , but in the next instant , Rowena grabbed her face and forend it back into position
Then she slapped the pencil against her cheek with mock crachy , saying .
If you try to avoid me again , Iâll have the servants lock you up at home and keep you from coming to school
â Or should I just take a knife and ruin your face ! Would that he casier ! â
The process of â applying the pencil to Elysiaâs face seemed to drag on forever .
It seemed like Elysia had been late because she had walked to school , and now there was no one around the gate .
Watching this .
Elysia felt an anxiety rising in her chest .
She remembered what Edan had told her before â schools were usually noisy , only quieting down when classes started .
So it must be class time now , which meant she was late
â Rowena .
I just want to go to school .
If covering my face or puning on that black stuff will make you sing , then til do it Elysia said .
Rowena froze for a moment , surprised .
â Oh , so you think that if you study hard , Mom and Dad will like you ? â she sneered , her voice sharp with derision .
Elysia lowered her head .
She couldnât communicate with Rowena .
She still didnât understand why she was being treated like this , or why Valerie had said those things .
Wait Mom !â The moment that word crossed her mind , she suddenly grabbed Rowena by the shoulder and demanded .
â How did my mom really dich
The lives
e â streaming screen now flushed with comments .
Chapter 32
( Wait , didnât anyone in the Drayton family explain this to her ? Why is she asking Rowena ? ]
Fenwick , who had been silent up until this point , answered flatly , â She never
asked
[ I remember Valerie died of a heart attack .
Itâs all over the internet .
Elysia is just playing dumb , right â I
[ If youâre saying sheâs playing dumb , whereâs the motive â She didnât ask , â How did my mom die ?â She asked , â How did my mom really die ? â Doesnât that mean Rowena has already told her something before !
So she already knows and is still asking ? Elysia really is clueless and deaf to reality ]
[ To be honest , this whole thing makes Elysia look pretty dumb .
She couldâve just looked it up online or asked her dad .
]
As these comments and debates raged on , the audienceâs opinions slowly shifted .
More and more people seemed to agree that Elysia should have
known better
That was when a voice suddenly rang out .
â Didnât I say in the car that it was your fault your mom slied ? You didnât listen to her , you ran off, and she went looking for you , only to get hit by a car and killed !
â Youâre the reason for everything .
Youâre the reason they lost their mother â
Maybe it was because Elysia was gripping her hand so nightly that in started to hum Rowena She tried to pull away , but then something caught her .
attention , and she immediately stopped .
With a cruel smirk , she sneered , â What , you donât believe me ? Go ahead and look it up on your phone
â Oh , wait .
I forgot , you donât have a phone .
How shameless .
You killed your own mother and still have the nerve to come home ! Why didnât you just die with her ? â
Rowenaâs word filled with venon , were like a punch to the gut .
Each mention of â your mother â was a sharp jab , instantly shattering all the false assumptions people had about Elysia .
In one moment , all the confusion was cleared up .
Reality hit hard .
Torin , unable to stay seated any longer , shut up from his chair .
He couldnât imagine the pain Elysia must have felt hearing those words .
But the moment he stood , he suddenly cluached his chest , collapsing to one knee .
The room went silent .
Everyone turned toward him , eyes wide with com
Stellan , picking up the microphone with a smile , explained , â Sorry , Mr.
Drayton must be feeling Elysiaâs heartache right now .
My had .
â
Torin raised a hand to signal that he was fine , then painfully lowered himself back into has seat , forcing a wry smile .
â Itâs an honor to be invited as a special guest on this show to experience Elysiaâs pain with all of you
His eyes never leth Rowena on the screen , the sister he had once loved and cherished .
But now , watching her twist the trails into such absurd lies , even encouraging Elys to end her life , Turin couldnât help but feel his heart clench .
The thought that the kind â hearted Elysia might have taken her words to heart â possibly even to the point of suicide â made his chest tighten in pain .
At the same time , a deep sense of disappointment toward Rowena sarged within him .
He thought .
This is the sister I have adored , the one I have always seen as innocent and weet .
How has she become this monstrous version of
No wonder , since Elysia returned , she hasnât asked about Valeneâs death .
It all makes sense now â she has believed the lie , felt guilty , and kept sent
All this time ,
I have mistakenly thought she is cold and indifferent to Valerieâs passing .
I am wrong .
Now , all he felt was regret , thinking .
Why didnât , I notice sooner ! If I had just talked to Elysia back then , maybe things wouldnât have ended up like this
â If I could see Elysia again , I would explain everything .
Maybe , just maybe , I could bring her back , return her to the innocent , kind sister I once knew â the one I adored .
But Fenwick , seeing the pain in Torinâs eyes , quickly tried to defend Rowena .
Torin , I donât think this is all Rowenaâs fault .
â
â Fenwick , shut up â â Torin snapped , his voice sharp , every bit of frustration pouring out .
The live â streaming screen now flushed with comments .
Wow , Torin is pissed ! So hot ]
( Where did all those people who were saying Elysia was taking it go ? Did they change their usernames ? Or did they just disappeart ]
23
Chapter 32
How darehe yell at Fenwick Fenwick , cut ties with him ! Who needs a brother when youâve got us â 300 million fans to back you up ! ]
Ferrickâs face darkened as he saw the comment .
He thought , How could anyone compare family to a fanbase ? Torin is my real brother â no fan can ever replace that .
Not 300 million , not even 30 billion .
I just remembered something I should share with you all .
Iâm a teacher at Ridgewood Middle School .
On the first day Elysia came to school , I caught her skipping class .
And she even hit Rowers I
Well , no surprise there .
If it were me , Iâd smack that bitch too !
But the real issue is skipping clous ! Does that mean she wasnât really walking to school ? Maybe she was off wandering somewhere else and showed up Late ! ]
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