chapter 14
“See! Everyone says it was a misunderstanding!”
“Don’t lie! You clearly called me a beggar!”
“I told you, you misheard! Look what you did to my hair…! You’re being so mean!”
Stella’s voice trembled as she glared at Daisy with watery eyes.
At that point, there was no need for Daisy to explain or defend herself anymore. Everyone present had agreed with Stella, so naturally, the situation tilted to make Daisy the villain.
“I never expected you to apologize, but I didn’t think you’d go this far as to deny it entirely!”
When even Chloe began to snap in disgust, Asubel—reading the mood—joined in the scolding.
“Daisy! Apologize this instant!”
“It’s not true! I really didn’t say that! Why won’t anyone believe me?!”
Daisy flared up, frustrated and near tears.
Even Lihanna, who usually defended her daughter, couldn’t take sides so easily this time.
It wasn’t that she didn’t believe Daisy. The second daughter she knew wasn’t the type to cleverly lie or manipulate the truth—she simply wasn’t capable of it.
Daisy was too simple-minded; even when she did lie, it showed all over her face. At best, she could only insist on ridiculous logic until others gave up arguing.
But with every witness denying her claim, there was nothing Lihanna could do except hold her poor daughter tightly and glare at Stella and her mother.
And then—
“I saw it. I saw everything.”
Serena, who had been watching quietly, finally stepped in.
She’d intended to let it pass peacefully, but this was going too far.
‘Why are you just letting them walk all over you like that?!’
She wasn’t saying Daisy should make trouble—but watching her get trampled unjustly made Serena furious.
‘Family, my foot. I was planning to leave this house and never see their faces again…!’
Unfortunately, the chains called “family” weren’t so easily broken.
After everything they’d done to her, she still couldn’t stand by and watch someone else suffer the same way.
‘If anyone gets to hit her, it’s me. I’m the one she bullied the most, so I get to hit her and make her cry—not someone else.’
Serena locked eyes with Stella and said clearly,
“I saw everything. Why are you pretending you didn’t? You did call her a beggar.”
Before Stella could respond, a startled Asubel grabbed Serena by the arm.
“What—what are you doing?!”
He yanked her hard enough that she stumbled.
“It’s true! You saw it?!” Daisy shouted, grabbing Serena’s other arm.
Both of her thin arms were being pulled in opposite directions; it was like being tortured.
Serena, shaking free from the brutish father and daughter, took a step back and said,
“Yes, I saw it. Not only did you call her a beggar, but you mocked her, saying she eats dirtier than one.”
“Y-yes! That’s what she said! I told her to stop, but she just kept going!”
Overwhelmed with emotion, Daisy pressed herself against Serena’s side and shouted desperately.
“See! My sister heard everything!”
Stella’s brow furrowed.
“…Your sister?”
“Yeah! Our family’s youngest—Serena! My little sister!”
At that, Stella vaguely remembered hearing the name before.
Bright blonde hair and vivid pink eyes—features so out of place no one could tell who she took after. She was, in every sense, the living embodiment of the scandal that stained the Rosellantis family name.
A flicker of disgust passed through Stella’s eyes as she glanced at Serena.
“So what if she’s your sister? How can we believe you when everyone else says otherwise? For all we know, she’s lying to protect you.”
“If that’s your logic, then aren’t the servants also lying to protect you? They might be afraid of what happens if they don’t.”
At Serena’s sharp retort, Stella immediately bristled.
“Of course not! Don’t slander people you don’t even know! You have no idea how honest and kind they are!”
“Is that so?”
Serena’s gaze swept over the servants.
For people who were supposedly telling the truth, their expressions were awfully uneasy.
They looked nervous—as though worried they’d been caught lying and things had gotten out of hand.
Pathetic.
Serena crossed her arms.
“Fine. You all say you heard it clearly, right? Then let’s test that. Tell us—what exactly did Stella say to Daisy? You say it was a misunderstanding, so that means she did say something. What was it? What did Stella come over here and say to Daisy, who was just quietly eating?”
As Serena warned she’d count to three, the servants went pale as ghosts.
Their eyes darted around frantically, silently asking each other what to do.
Panicking, Stella rushed in front of Serena.
“Y-you! What do you think you’re doing, suddenly showing up like this?!”
For someone who’d been acting like the pure victim, she looked incredibly flustered now.
Serena looked her dead in the eye and began to count, her tone calm.
“One.”
“Who do you think you are?!”
“Two.”
“I said stop—!”
Just as Serena was about to say the last number, Stella lunged and shoved her with all her strength.
Crash!
Serena fell to the floor with a loud thud. Stella froze, unable to hide her shock.
“I-I just pushed her a little…!”
“How in the world does that look like ‘a little’? Don’t tell me you’re going to call this a misunderstanding too?!”
Lihanna, who had been holding back her anger, finally snapped.
And right on cue, Caroline chimed in,
“Yeah, why won’t you let her speak? If it was all a misunderstanding, then let them talk! Didn’t the servants all see it? Didn’t you just say they’re all so honest?”
“Even if we saw the same thing, it might look different to everyone! That’s all!” Chloe protested desperately.
“If everyone saw the same thing, how could it be different?! You bullied this poor girl so harshly and now you can’t even explain yourselves? Does that make any sense?!”
Chloe tried to defend Stella, but Lihanna immediately shot her down.
The two women began arguing fiercely, paying no attention to Serena still lying on the floor.
‘Wow. I actually helped, and they can’t even spare me a glance.’
Her family truly never failed to amaze her.
She hadn’t expected anything from them—but somehow, they still managed to disappoint her more.
I should’ve just let them get a taste of how it feels to be wrongly accused.
“Ugh…”
As Serena started to rise, someone reached out to help her—it was Jeremy.
She almost thanked him but froze when she saw his expression.
His face was cold, his jaw tight with barely restrained anger.
Was he mad that she’d spoken up against Stella?
But before she could say anything, Jeremy’s cool green eyes moved from Serena to Stella.
“Stella,” he said quietly, “I’ve always been proud to call myself your ally. But today… I can’t do that.”
“F-Father…?”
Stella’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Before Chloe could even react, Jeremy continued, his gaze sweeping over the servants.
“There’s no need for everyone to speak at once. I’d like someone who understands the situation to explain it clearly.”
Even though they served Stella, the servants couldn’t disobey the direct command of the heir apparent—Lord Jeremy.
To hesitate now, after claiming to have seen everything, would be as good as admitting they’d lied.
So the quickest-witted servant stepped forward and began to speak.
“What Miss Daisy said is true… however, from what I saw, it only looked as though Miss Stella was joking around playfully, in her own way.”
It wasn’t a completely neutral statement—he subtly shifted the blame back onto Daisy, implying she’d overreacted to Stella’s teasing.
“And the rest of you?” Jeremy asked, scanning the room.
No one else spoke.
In their minds, that servant’s answer had been perfect—acknowledging Stella’s actions, yet leaving room for her to claim it was a misunderstanding.
That way, they could all get away unscathed.
