The Scarred Queen's Rise (Athena) novel Chapter 23

Chapter 23

If Margaret finds out about this, she definitely won’t show any mercy. Whether or not this matter was instigated by Willow, she would still face punishment according to the family rules.

In the end, Eloise had no choice but to relent. “I’ll ask.”

She fought back her tears, looking as if Athena were forcing her to do something truly unspeakable.

Seeing this, Athena felt nothing but disdain. She coldly glanced at Eloise and walked into the room.

The scent of medicine was thick in the air. Willow lay on the bed, her face as pale as paper, her eyes tightly shut.

Athena curled her lips into a mocking smile. Despite the chaos outside, Willow remained so calm. Truly, she had impressive self–control.

Eloise looked at Willow lying there, and her eyes welled up with tears once more.

She stepped forward and gently called, “My good daughter, wake up.”

Willow slowly opened her eyes and gave Eloise a weak smile. “Mother, I just had a beautiful dream. You made me my favorite chestnut cake…”

Eloise’s heart broke even more. Ever since Willow had been poisoned, her health had been poor. She had to drink bitter, unpleasant herbal medicine every day.

And every time Willow drank it, Eloise would make chestnut cakes for her.

Seeing Willow so frail, Eloise couldn’t bring herself to ask her the question. She thought, ‘Is there really any difference between this and stabbing a knife into my heart?‘

Suddenly, Willow noticed Athena standing by the bed, and fear flashed in her eyes.

She weakly called, “Athena, it’s all my fault. Please don’t blame Mother. If there’s anything, you can take it out on me…”

Willow’s obedient, pitiful demeanor tore at Eloise’s heart. She tried several times to ask, but her throat tightened, and the words wouldn’t come out.

Willow struggled to sit up, but her strength failed her, and she collapsed back onto the bed. Eloise’s heart ached as she wiped away her tears. “Don’t get up. You’ve only just started to recover.”

She glanced at Athena, who showed no sign of relenting, and, swallowing her pain, finally asked, “Willow, tell me the truth. Did your running away have anything to do with Athena?”

“Mother,” Willow’s face paled with panic, and she quickly waved her hand. “It’s not Athena’s fault. It’s all my doing. It has nothing to do with her.”

She spoke while casting a frightened glance at Athena, then quickly lowered her head again.

Eloise frowned. It was clear that Willow was terrified of Athena.

Athena’s eyes flashed coldly. “If you really wanted to leave, why did you specifically tell the doorman not to inform Mother? If you were serious about running away, you could’ve slipped out the back door quietly. So now, what’s with this act of playing the victim?”

Tears immediately welled up in Willow’s eyes and slid down her cheeks. She shook her head frantically. “Athena, it’s not like

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“Then what is it? Haven’t you been pretending to be weak and pitiful this whole time?” Athena sneered coldly, stepping forward to grab Willow’s wrist.

At that moment, Eloise rushed forward, positioning herself protectively in front of Willow. “Athena, what do you’re doing?”

Her sudden defensive stance stabbed right into Athena’s heart.

you think

If Eloise had been so determined to protect Athena when Athena was punished to bow, maybe her old illness wouldn’t have flared up again.

Seeing the tight embrace of mother and daughter, Athena suddenly smiled. “Why so tense, Lady Eloise? I’m only trying to clear my name and get to the truth.

“No need to keep putting on this mother–daughter drama in front of me. If you have something important to say, you can wait until this whole matter is over.

Chapter 24