Celeste gritted her teeth. "That bitch Liliana got hold of some leverage over our family, and then she went to my parents with it. After that, she teamed up with them to make me take the me and forced me to go abroad."


    "I had a truly miserable time overseas. They restricted my movements, and my parents wouldn''t even allow me toe back."


    "I sneaked back on my own this time, and I''m not going back-no way am I living that awful life ever again..."


    Amara was taken aback by this.


    Liliana actually had something over Celeste''s parents-Martin and Andrea Everly? That was strange.


    From what Amara remembered, Peter and Bess Everly were not the nicest people, but Martin and Andrea had always struck her as genuinely kind. How could Liliana have gotten leverage over them? Had they done something wrong?


    A phrase came to Amara''s mind: you never really know what goes on behind closed doors.


    Apparently, even though Martin and Andrea seemed good and honest, who knew what they might have done in private? Otherwise, why would they be vulnerable to ckmail for no apparent reason?


    Still, Amara didn''t feel much personal turmoil about it-her rtionship with Martin and Andrea was always rather distant. The main thing that struck her was how much Celeste had changed.


    Celeste used to be impulsive, arrogant, and came off as rather foolish; now, she seemed a bit steadier.


    But that had nothing to do with Amara. She just nced at Celeste for a moment before turning her attention back to her dessert.


    Lately, her appetite had grown, and as is typical for pregnant women, her tastes kept changing. A while ago, she''d been craving spicy foods; these days, she had a real sweet tooth.


    Luckily, she was one of those women whose body only grew at the belly during pregnancy-though she''d gained some weight, it was mostly in her stomach, and the rest of her figure remained unchanged.


    Watching Amara eat her dessert


    quietly, even with her calm and serene expression, she looked as lovely as a painting Celeste felt genuinely envious of her looks and couldn''t help muttering under her breath, "How can someone be so beautiful..."


    Suddenly, another thought struck her, and she said, "Oh, right, I took the fall for Liliana once before too-remember three years ago, when some kid messed with you and pushed you into the pond?"


    Amara looked up, watching Celeste quietly. She certainly remembered that incident.


    Celeste pursed her lips and went on, "Someone put that kid up to pushing you into the water. Everyone said it was me, but it wasn''t. It was Liliana. I heard her telling the kid what to do."


    "But honestly, I really hated you back then-I was happy to see you fall into the water so I didn''t care,


    whether it was me of someone else. who hurt you. That''s why I never


    spoke up to clear things up."


    So that was Liliana''s doing as well?


    Now Amara was truly surprised.


    "That was three years ago, right? Was Liliana already hanging around the Everly Estate all the time by then?"


    Celeste nodded. “Yeah. Even though Grandpa couldn''t stand Liliana, Grandma absolutely adored her."


    "Grandma would often invite Liliana over for dinner, so when Grandma was alive Liliana could get in to the Everly home just by showing up Otherwise, how do you think she managed to get into the estate so easily four months ago-when Finnian got drugged?"