4
"I... I don''t understand what
you''re saying."
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Jacqueline''s gaze flickered briefly, betraying a hint of guilt before she quickly
straightened up and snapped, "What do you mean, ''confess'' or ''spare myself''? I fell into the water at your Padi estate, and instead of apologizing, you''re trying to pin something on me? Is this how the Padi family treats its guests?"
Jacqueline clutched her aching cheek, her voice seething with anger. "Holy Lady or not, my father is a senior official in
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court, and my sister is the Imperial Consort! You think you can humiliate me without consequences? The Henderson family will make sure His
Majesty hears about this!"
Eliza nced at her coldly. Seeing Jacqueline still refuse to admit the truth, she let out a faint scoff and said, "Fine. Stay
here and think it over."
Without sparing her another look, she turned and walked
away.
Jacqueline slumped against the couch, clutching her drenched body tightly. She
bit her lower lip, her gaze flickering toward Eliza every now and then.
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Eliza''s unruffled demeanor was
like a silent pressure, and as
the moments ticked by, Jacqueline''s nerves began to unravel.
''Why did she stop after just one question?'' Jacqueline''s thoughts spiraled.
''Could it be... they actually find something?'' A chill crept up her spine as her heart raced.
''No way. The water''s too deep. They wouldn''t actually dive down for it, would they?'' She tried to reassure herself, but doubt gnawed at her.
''Even if they did, the thing is so
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well-hidden, and the color''s so dark... There''s no way they''d notice it!'' Jacqueline''s palms grew mmy as she clenched her fists tightly.
''Please, please don''t let them find it,'' she silently pleaded.
Fate, as always, had other ns.
"Your Highness!"
Renee''s hurried footsteps
echoed from outside the door.
She entered quickly, her expression grim, holding a box in her hands. Without
hesitation, she presented it to Eliza. “Just as you suspected,
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after the servants searched
every inch of the pond, they found something filthy at the
bottom."
It wasn''t just a search-it was a full-scale sweep. Acting on Eliza''s orders, Renee had over a dozen servants skilled in swimming diving into the pond. They scoured every inch, overturning stones and stirring up the silt, leaving no corner unchecked.
And so, the item Jacqueline thought she had hidden so well was dredged up from the depths by the Padi family''s
servants.
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Eliza nced at the box. Inside was a small ck cloth doll, soaked through with pond water and smeared with mud.
It hadn''t just been thrown into the pond-it had been buried deep in the muck. If Renee hadn''t ordered such a
meticulous search, it would have been nearly impossible to uncover such a sinister object hidden in the Padi family''s
backyard pond.
Eliza''s icy re cut through Jacqueline like a de. She mmed her palm on
the table with a loud bang, startling Jacqueline into a shiver.
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"Jacqueline, what a clever stunt! Is the Henderson family trying to challenge me, the head of the Padi family?"
Jacqueline was utterly stunned. ''How did they find it? I thought I hid it so well!''
''Did I rush too much and fail
to bury it properly?''
''Damn those meddling Padi maids!''
She had followed her father''s
instructions to stage an idental fall into the water, using the chaos to bury the
item at the bottom of the pond. The timing was perfect
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and right when the banquet was in full swing, ensuring the Padi family would be
too distracted to notice.
But the moment she fell into the water, the Padi servants immediately spotted
her.
Before she could hide the item,
several of their maids who
could swim jumped in to "rescue? her.
She hadn''t finished hiding the item yet, so how could she let them pull her out of
the water?