The Scarred Queen's Rise (Athena) novel Chapter 52

Desire burned in Michael’s eyes–so intense it felt like it might break free. Athena wasn’t a naive girl anymore; she could see it plain as day.

And right after that came the fury.

She thought, ‘What right does he have to humiliate me like this? Just because I once loved him–does that give him permission to stomp all over my feelings?‘

Everything she’d held in hit a breaking point. Without hesitation, she raised her hand and slapped him across the face, hard.

“You think I’m still the same Athena from three years ago?”

Smack! The sharp sound rang out as Michael’s head jerked to the side.

His eyes were filled with disbelief. Athena–that Athena, who used to have nothing but love for him–had just hit him.

He slowly reached up to touch his stinging cheek, numb from the blow. He couldn’t wrap his head around it. He wondered, ‘How could all her warmth disappear overnight?‘

“Move,” Athena said, her voice cold–colder than he’d ever heard. But this time, it carried something else too: disgust.

That look in her eyes made something inside him clench. She hated him now. She didn’t chase after him anymore. She no longer smiled when he smiled or ached when he did. Athena didn’t want him anymore.

Michael’s throat tightened like it was stuffed with cotton. He’d never felt this lost. The thought of never again feeling Athena’s fierce love–it left a gaping emptiness in his chest.

“I… I’m not as awful as you think…” he said, though even he didn’t sound convinced.

He thought, ‘I haven’t actually done anything, have I? I’ve just thought about it. That doesn’t count… right?‘

Just then, a soft, trembling voice called out, “Athena? Are you in there?”

It was sweet and anxious, thick with unshed tears–like she might burst into sobs at any moment.

Athena raised an eyebrow and gave a cold smile. “Lord Osborne, aren’t you going to move? Your fiancée’s about to show up.”

Michael stepped aside, dazed. Athena brushed past him without so much as a glance. “Don’t accept the proposal from the Mcgee family,” he blurted.

But she didn’t slow down. Didn’t even look back. She left him with just one final, frosty sentence. “What’s it got to do with you?”

As she stepped out of the garden, Willow was waiting outside, eyes red and brimming with tears. When she saw Athena, they reddened even more.

She opened her mouth, wanting to ask something, but no words came. All she could do was let the tears fall silently, one by one, as if she’d suffered the greatest injustice in the world.

Behind her stood several noble young ladies.

Seeing Willow like this, they immediately jumped to her defense. “Athena, who were you just with in there?”

They probably knew it was Michael in the garden, but none of them dared confront him directly. So they took it out on

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Chapter 52

Athena instead.

Willow stood there pitifully, not saying a word. She didn’t need to–others were all too eager to speak for her.

“I saw it clearly,” said Viola Maynard, daughter of the Maynard family. “Athena went into the garden right after my cousin Michael. How shameless can you be, seducing your own sister’s fiancé?”

Viola had always been close with Willow, but she had more mouth than sense. Saying something like that here was a surefire way to offend the entire Osborne family.

Not that she seemed to care. In fact, she looked almost smug. She’d never liked Athena anyway. In her eyes, someone like Athena had no business being the future lady of the Osborne family.

Faced with their accusations, Athena looked calmly at Viola. “If you’re going to run your mouth, at least back it up. Which eye of yours saw me all over Lord Osborne?”