The Scarred Queen's Rise (Athena) novel Chapter 115

Chapter 115

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 fell in. I… 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 ill…”

A sudden, hard 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. Pointing at the trembling Willow, she snapped furiously. “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… how could you…”

Her eyes brimmed with disappointment and hurt.

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.

1/2

Defiance was one of the ten abominations of family rules.

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.

2/2