Faced with Lottie''s interrogation, Melissa swore up and down on everything she held dear.
Sure, the younger generation of the Norton family had seen better days, but Old Mr. Norton still had some clout in Ferrond.
And, well... in Ferrond, folks take their promises seriously.
Swearing an oath-especially the kind where you''re basically saying, "Strike me down if I''m lying"-isn''t something anyone does lightly. If Melissa really had something to hide, she''d probably have tried to use Old Mr. Norton as her shield, not stack up oaths like pancakes at a Sunday brunch.
Ste nced at Lottie. "Mom, maybe it wasn''t her after all?"
Just the fact that Melissa was willing to swear so many oaths made it seem unlikely she was the culprit.
Lottie narrowed her eyes, studying Melissa.
Melissa, exasperated, threw up her hands. “It seriously wasn''t me! If I''m lying, may lightning strike me right now-how about that?"
She was practically losing it.
Who the hell did this, anyway? When she found out, she was going to make them wish they''d never been born.
What kind of twisted person has a crush on a guy but can''t just own up to it? What kind of nonsense is that?
The more she thought about it, the angrier Melissa got.
In her head, she was alreadying up with a hundred different ways to make whoever did this pay.
Lottie nced at the butler. "Show her out."
Clearly, at this point, Melissa was looking less and less like the guilty party.
The butler nodded, stepping forward. "Ms. Norton, I apologize. It seems there''s been a misunderstanding."
"Huh?" Melissa blinked.
The butler continued, "This matter is settled."
Melissa just stared. "...That''s it? It''s over?"
Her mind wentpletely nk.
She looked at the butler, then back at Lottie. What the heck? That''s it? We''re just... done?
This didn''t seem right.
It really didn''t...
But she stammered, "So... it''s just over?"
Shouldn''t she at least get some kind ofpensation? She''d been dragged out of
bed in the middle of the night for this!
She''d barely even been awake when they hauled her off.
The whole way here, the people who came to get her hadn''t said a single word.
She honestly thought she''d been kidnapped.
That kind of stress... shouldn''t she be getting some sort of emotionalpensation or something?
Lottie said, "Ms. Norton, if there''s something you''d like, let my butler know."
In other words, they''d make it up to her.
Melissa was still a little salty, but she wasn''t about to argue with Lottie.
She got up with a huff, and the butler gestured politely. "This way, Ms. Norton."
Melissa nced at Ste, pouted, and followed the butler out.
She had a bad feeling Ste''s life was about to get a lot harder-Ronald was just too much of a catch.
With a guy that popr, there was always some woman lurking in the shadows, looking to stir up trouble.
Still, who the hell actually did this? Why''d she
she
''d pull something c
ene get caught up in it? [
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Did she reallye off that shady?<fn00b5> This content belongs to ?ovelFind</fn00b5>
Melissa fumed all the way out.
...
Once Melissa was gone, Lottie turned to Ste. "You really think it wasn''t her?"
Ste replied, "In this town, swearing an oath isn''t something people do on a whim."
Especially not when it''s about something they actually did-most folks wouldn''t dare.
Lottie''s eyes narrowed. "You never know. Some people will risk everything for their own ends. What''s an oath,pared to that?”
So, just because Melissa swore up and down, Lottie wasn''t convinced she was innocent. The Norton family wasn''t what it used to be after all. s
Ste frowned, saying nothing.
Lottie said, "Let''s talk to Regina next."
In her mind, the two people with the biggest crush on Ronald were Regina and
Melissa. So, it had to be one of them.
The butler, having seen Melissa out, brought Regina in.
Regina... Once the princess of the Schultz family, she''d been the apple of their eye just three years ago loved by her parents, cherished by her brother. s