"No way—are you saying she scammed them out of a ton of money, but they never even spent a dime on her?"


    "That can''t be right. The Jewell family must all have been conned!"


    A chorus of murmurs swept through the crowd.


    Monty was starting to sweat. He looked nervously at Zelda and pressed, "Come


    on, show them! Didn''t you buy her clothes? Pay her tuition?"


    Zelda''s face was tight. "No, I didn''t!"


    With all those eyes on her, she didn''t dare lie.


    She had no proof.


    "What?" Monty gaped. "Every year on her birthday, didn''t you buy her something? You got presents for Lisette—weren''t you supposed to do the same for her? And that tuition money-didn''t I tell you to pay it?"


    Zelda''s expression soured even more. "I can''t remember. I always forget these things!"


    "And besides, whenever I was out getting clothes for Lisette, she''d be off somewhere. I don''t remember ever getting her anything!"


    Zelda huffed, clearly annoyed.


    "It''s not that I''d disappear. It''s that you only ever cared about Lisette. You never even looked my way," came the quiet reply.


    "When I went with you, you said I was an embarrassment and made me wait outside."


    "And when you promised to get me something, you''d walk out with bags and bags for Lisette—always forgetting about me."


    "I mean, I stopped caring. But if the real Calliope was here, she''d probably be crushed. You treated your adopted daughter a thousand times better than your own flesh and blood."


    People in the audience gasped, unable to hide their shock.


    "They didn''t even know she wasn''t their real daughter, and this is how they treated her?"


    "Oh my God. Even thinking she was their own, they only bought clothes for the adopted daughter? The real Calliope must''ve been heartbroken!"


    "That''s so sad. I''ve seen favoritism, but this is on another level."


    "My heart breaks for the real Calliope."


    "She never even got to grow up-and her family didn''t care whether she lived or died!"


    "Their first reaction wasn''t grief for losing their daughter-it was trying to get money from the impostor!"


    "How disgusting!"


    "Poor Calliope!"


    "So if Mrs. Jewell says she never gave Calliope any money, where''s this story about Calliope stealing.alling from?


    their moneying fr


    belongs to s


    "Well, maybe one of her brothers gave her something?”


    The crowd all turned their attention to Valerian.


    Valerian looked sick. He hadn''t given Calliope a single cent.


    "Valerian, you must''ve given her money, right? Show us the proof Monty prodded, sensing the


    reporters and onlookers getting riled definitely starting to


    up People


    take Calliope''s side. ''s


    Valerian''s expression looked as if he''d swallowed a rotten egg.


    He couldn''t say he had, but he couldn''t say he hadn''t either.


    But the truth was, he''d never given her anything.


    "Valerian, cat got your tongue? A minute ago, you were using me of swindling your family out of a fortune!"


    "If you''re going to use someone


    of fraud, there should at least be


    some evidence, right? Otherwise, I could just turn around and say you all scammed me out of a billion dors!" <fne3f6> ???? ????s? ???????s ?? FindN()vel</fne3f6>


    s


    "If you really think you''ve got a case, why not take me to court instead of trying to


    ruin me in the court of public opinion?"


    "What''s the matter, is it just easier to fool the press and everyone online?"


    "You think everyone out there is just a bunch of idiots?"