Chapter 324
Sadly, Eloise had gravely underestimated Athena. She was now a far cry from the woman...
Athena delivered a stinging slap across Willow’s face. Willow screamed again.
But this time, it wasn’t just screams. Willow began desperately pleading with Eloise. “Mother, spare me. I don’t want to... I worked hard to become the Marchioness of Somers, please, spare me!”
A mother would feel her child’s pain as her own.
Seeing Willow so broken truly shattered Eloise’s heart.
Willow was her precious daughter. Eloise cherished and protected Willow since the day she was born.
But if Eloise told the truth, she knew that Willow would surely die too.
Eloise clenched her teeth, her heart torn by the impossible choice.
Athena raised her dagger once more, pressing closer to Willow. She threatened coldly, “If you don’t talk, I’ll start cutting off her fingers one by one. I won’t stop until you start speaking!”
“Save me, Mom! Athena is a psycho!” Willow cowered in terror while curling into a ball. Just as Athena was about to strike, Eloise finally broke down and blurted out the truth.
“I’ll talk. I’ll talk!” Eloise sobbed, the words tumbling out in a rush, “Nicolas is a remnant of the fallen country before ours.”
With those words, Eloise completely broke down.
Eloise slumped to her knees, sobbing as she looked at Athena. It was all Nicolas’s doing. He wants to overthrow Petanion and restore the country of Drachian. He’s the 13th prince of the fallen Drachian.
“Back when Drachian fell, Nicolas was the sole survivor. Blinded by greed and with compromising evidence in Nicolas’s hands, Henry had no choice but to obey his every command."
Athena’s brows knitted tightly. “Nicolas is a remnant of the fallen Drachian, then who are his accomplices?”
She thought, “A mere boy like him couldn’t possibly have forced Henry to submit on his own!”
Eloise sniffled and said, “The only accomplice I know of is Loretta Holmes, who was your foster mother. I sent you to her because I thought you’d be easier to control that way. But when your true identity was revealed, Margaret insisted on bringing you back to the duke’s estate."
“I had to frame you to secure Willow’s rightful status as the legitimate daughter of the Monson family. Only by having that status could Willow marry into the Osborne family."
“But back then, I honestly didn’t know any of this. I only learned the truth much later.”
Athena’s eyes blazed with fury. “So you were willing to ruin me just for your own selfish gain, is that it?”
"I was banished to the military camp..."
Eloise kept her eyes down, unable to meet Athena’s gaze. “I guess you can only blame your bad luck. If you hadn’t been born, none of this would have happened to you.”
Athena was undeniably the victim, yet Eloise insisted it was simply her fate. Faced with the sheer absurdity of it all, Athena didn’t know whether to laugh.
“Who dares to say Athena is ill-fated?” Xander’s chilling voice cut through the air.
Xander emerged from the shadows, his chiseled features standing out sharply against the ink-black night.
Xander swept his gaze over Eloise, his expressionless eyes piercing into her very being.
As if she were suddenly encased in ice, the chill seeping...
Eloise shuddered involuntarily. Her lips parted to speak, but the words died in her throat, choked by sheer terror.
She thought, “Prince Xander is notoriously ruthless, if he finds out, the entire duke’s estate will pay with their lives.
I don’t care if I die, but what about my three children?
Matthew and Joseph know nothing about any of this..."
Eloise crawled two steps toward Xander’s feet, sobbing desperately as she pleaded, “Your Highness, have mercy. Matthew and Joseph know nothing of this. These are all Henry’s sins. I beg you. Please, spare their lives!”
Xander’s gaze briefly flickered to Eloise, his eyes glinting with lethal intent.
Under the weight of Xander’s intimidating aura, Eloise was too terrified to say a single word.
Athena stared blankly at Xander, only to find his eyes brimming with tender concern.
Noticing her face reddened and chilled by the biting wind, Xander swiftly unfastened his cloak and gently draped it around her shoulders. “Don’t concern yourself with what happened down the mountain. It’s all been taken care of for you. The assassins sent by the Monson family have all been..."
Eloise shot Xander a startled glance, then lowered her head with a bitter, self-mocking smile.
She had long known Henry would try to kill her, but when the truth finally struck, the pain still cut deep.
"... and dragging over a hundred members of the Perkins..."
She said, “For Henry, I sacrificed my sister, I even framed my father by sending him to prison and into ruin. I gave him everything. I never thought he would treat me like this. How could he..."
Eloise burst into hysterical laughter, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face.
Yet Athena remained utterly unmoved. Eloise was only mourning her own wasted efforts.
Athena knew that it was nothing but crocodile tears.
The fate of the Perkins family meant absolutely nothing to Eloise.
Athena felt it was such a waste that Kurtis had doted on Eloise so much, yet she was the one who personally sent him to his ruin.
“This is your retribution. People like you deserve to burn in hell!” Athena snarled, her words dripping with venom.
Eloise was momentarily silent, then gave a self-mocking smile. “I’m sorry, Father,” she murmured.
Athena said, “You don’t deserve to call Grandfather Father. If he were still alive, he would disown a treacherous, ungrateful wretch like you.”
Athena glared at Eloise with icy eyes, her murderous intent barely contained. She wanted nothing more than to kill her right then and there.
She thought, "I still need to keep Eloise alive... alive for now."
“She’s the key witness. If we want to expose Nicolas’s true identity, we’ll need her testimony.”
Eloise shook her head wildly, as if provoked by Athena’s words. She suddenly shouted in defiance, “I did nothing wrong. It was Father’s fault. He always preferred my sister over me. We’re both his daughters, so why did she get to marry into the duke’s estate while I was shoved into a second-rate family!"
“I’m his daughter, too. I was just looking out for myself—what’s wrong with that? That family fortune was rightfully mine!”
Hearing Eloise’s words, Athena was utterly stunned.
Athena thought to herself, “Grandfather never played favorites between his two daughters. He treated them with absolute fairness in every way.
When did he ever show any favoritism?
Even their wedding gifts were prepared identically.
When I was little, I’d hear Grandfather speak of his daughters, his eyes always brimming with pride and affection.
In fact, he doted even more on Eloise.
The only difference was that Eloise was mischievous, so Grandfather disciplined her more strictly. But that was for her own good."
“Yet, in Eloise’s eyes, all that fatherly care was warped into proof of his disfavor."
Athena strode forward and landed two resounding slaps across Eloise’s face.
She said, “Just because you felt unloved, you framed Grandfather for embezzlement? You’re not even fit to be called human!"
Eloise’s nose and mouth gushed blood from the blows. With a pained scream, she clutched her face.
Eloise stared at Athena, her eyes wide with terror.
Athena’s fury still burned white-hot. “You’re the one who deserves to die the most!” she spat venomously.
Athena was about to lunge forward again when Xander stopped her. “Steady now, Athena,” he said firmly, “Eloise can’t die yet. Only by bringing her before the Emperor can we clear your grandfather’s name."
Athena lunged viciously at Eloise, but at Xander’s words, all the fight drained from her.
Athena let her hands fall limply and collapsed into Xander’s embrace, her body shaking with uncontrollable sobs.
These past three years, she had endured far too much.
With Margaret also gone now, Athena felt utterly abandoned, like a child with no one left.
She had nothing left.
Xander watched Athena sobbing her heart out, his own heart aching for her. Gently patting her back, he whispered with tender reassurance, “You still have me, Athena. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll always be here for you.”