The Scarred Queen's Rise (Athena) novel Chapter 205

Chapter 205

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 20 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 on me.”

“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 I not?‘ Athena wondered.

The Monson family was reluctant to hand over the ten 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 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 His Grace and try to reclaim 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.

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.”

*本

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?”

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Chapter 205

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?”

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