Chapter 129

Eloise flushed crimson at Athena’s words. When her gaze fell upon the girl’s bruised and battered wrists, she gasped sharply, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Eloise shook her head. “No, I know what kind of person Matthew is. He may be a bit of a troublemaker, but he would never hurt you. He just wouldn’t—”

But the rest of the words stuck in Eloise’s throat; she simply couldn’t bring herself to say them.

Eloise simply couldn’t believe that Matthew would ever hurt Athena so badly. There must be some kind of misunderstanding, she thought.

The child’s wound was the mother’s pain. Athena was her daughter. Of course, Eloise’s heart ached for her.

After a moment of silence, trembling slightly, Eloise took a few hesitant steps forward and wanted to explain, “Athena?”

Yet Athena stepped back, her gaze cold with indifference.

“What am I expecting?” Athena thought bitterly. “Am I really expecting Eloise to actually care about me? Just asking for humiliation.”

The bruises were right there in plain sight, yet Eloise couldn’t even muster a single word of comfort.

“Lady Eloise, since I hold no place in your heart, why bother pretending to care before me?” Athena said. After so many disappointments, she had lost all hope. Yet deep down, she still couldn’t accept this injustice.

Tears streamed down Eloise’s face as she pleaded, her voice trembling, “Athena, there must be some misunderstanding. Please tell me where Matthew is. When he returns, I’ll make sure he’s properly punished.”

Athena let out a bitter laugh. “Matthew can go wherever he wants. It’s hardly my place to dictate where he goes. Lady Eloise, did you make such a fuss coming here and lingering at my door just to show everyone how heartless and unfilial I am? Or are you so convinced I harmed Matthew that you came rushing here to demand answers?”

Athena’s words sent Eloise into a panic. She frantically shook her head. “No, Athena, that’s not it. I was just worried about waking you, so I waited here instead."

“If you were truly concerned about waking me, you could have just sat down or come back later. Instead, you chose to stand here, pressuring me, trying to guilt-trip me into revealing Matthew’s whereabouts. Lady Eloise, how low can you stoop?” Athena sneered.

Eloise’s eyes flew open wide, tears cascading down.

Dorothea steadied her with a concerned hand. “Lady Eloise, are you okay?”

Eloise staggered, as if she’d finally given up on Athena. Her face pale as a sheet, she nodded. She said softly, “Since you don’t know, Athena, I won’t press further. Let’s go, Dorothea.”

Eloise’s figure slumped, her stooped posture making her look as if she’d aged a decade in an instant.

Athena didn’t even spare Eloise a glance as she left.

As soon as Eloise stepped out of Snowdrop Wing, she sighed deeply. “Matthew went too far this time. No matter what, he shouldn’t have taken Athena by force, let alone hurt her so badly. It’s only natural for Athena to hold a grudge.”

As she said this, Eloise brushed the tears from her cheeks, her eyes brimming with helplessness.

Dorothea asked anxiously, “Sir Monson has been missing for so long. Could something have happened to him?”

“Absolutely not,” Eloise said firmly. “Athena may be cold toward us, but she would never take Matthew’s life. At most, she’s just teaching him a lesson."

Dorothea nodded. “That’s good then.”

With unsteady steps, Eloise made her way toward the main hall.

Inside, Athena rubbed her temples, already feeling a headache coming on. Every visit from Eloise left Athena with a splitting headache.

Trina came in with the account books, but seeing Athena in such a state, she quietly turned around and left.

“Come back,” Athena called out, puzzled, “Why the rush to leave?”

Trina looked at Athena with concern. “Miss Monson, I noticed you weren’t feeling well, so I didn’t dare to disturb you.”

“That’s not for you to worry about,” Athena said, beckoning her closer. “Bring it here.”

Trina approached and handed the account books to Athena. “Miss Monson, I’ve tallied the accounts as you instructed. Just as we suspected, they’re deep in the red, and what’s worse—”

At this point, Trina hesitated to continue, noticing Athena’s brows knitting together. It was just as Athena had expected.

Athena flipped through the ledger nonchalantly and asked, “What?”

Trina glanced nervously at Athena. Seeing her calm, Trina took a deep breath and said, “And there’s still a debt of over 30 thousand dollars.”

“Only 20 thousand dollars?” Athena scoffed with a self-deprecating smile. “Honestly, I thought the Monson family would dump this entire financial mess...”

“That’s impossible. With Lady Margaret still around, they wouldn’t dare be so blatant about it,” Trina blurted out, then suddenly realized her slip and hastily covered her mouth.

Athena glanced up at Trina. “You weren’t wrong. Why cover your mouth?”

If even Trina can see through this, how can’t I? Athena wondered.

The Monson family was reluctant to hand over the beneficial shops to Athena. Since they had no choice, they dumped a pile of failing businesses on her instead.

If Athena couldn’t turn them around, she’d probably just have to hand them back anyway.

Trina let out a slow breath. “All these debts were caused by poor management and unpaid credit. If you take them over, Miss Monson, you’ll have to fill these financial holes first. Otherwise, the shops won’t be able to reopen.”

Athena had inspected those shops before. Their locations were actually quite decent.

Trina looked at Athena with concern and suggested hesitantly, “Miss Monson, perhaps we should report this to Margaret and try to claim the funds?”

Athena closed the account books with a wry smile. “If they’re bold enough to hand this over to you, it means they’re not afraid of you asking for the money.

Even if you made the biggest fuss possible, you still wouldn’t get a single coin. It’s obvious they’re just trying to make me back down. If I really went to demand it, I’d only be making a fool of myself.”

Trina’s face flushed with anger. “That’s over 20 thousand dollars. We can’t just let this go. That’s a fortune.”

Athena knew 20 thousand dollars was a fortune, but for now, she had no idea how to handle it. After a moment’s thought, an idea suddenly struck.

Athena’s lips curled into a sly smile. She motioned for Trina to lean in close, then whispered a few words in her ear.

Trina’s eyes lit up, and she burst into laughter. “Miss Monson, this is absolutely brilliant!”

Meanwhile, Eloise was anxiously waiting for news. With no word from Matthew, Eloise immediately dispatched the servants to search for him.

Just as Eloise was utterly exhausted, the butler entered. “Lady Eloise?”

Eloise’s eyes instantly brightened with hope. “Any news of Matthew?” she asked eagerly.

The butler entered, looking troubled as he reported, “Lady Eloise, the debt collectors have arrived.”

“Debt collectors!” Eloise’s face registered utter bewilderment. What debt? This is completely out of the blue, she wondered.

The butler took two steps forward and whispered in her ear, “It’s about the debts from those ten shops. Lady Athena said the debt collectors should go to whoever signed the contracts.”

At this point, the butler looked uneasy and explained, “Previously, those shops were under your control, Lady Eloise, so naturally, it was you who signed for them.”

Upon hearing this, a flicker of embarrassment crossed Eloise’s face. She admitted to herself it was wrong, but she’d had no other choice.

Pressed by Margaret’s urgent demand for the shops, Eloise had no choice but to hastily transfer them to Athena’s name. She’d actually forgotten all about those debts.

I bet Athena thought I did it on purpose, so she sent those debt collectors after me, Eloise thought.

A flush of humiliation crossed Eloise’s face as she snapped at the butler, “How foolish. Must I personally attend to such trifles? Why didn’t you just send them away? Don’t you realize what situation it is?”