"It's all in the past now, but back then, Mr. York was so worried about you. He shut himself in the study and planned to destroy his face with a scalpel. He thought by making himself ugly, he can marry you and stop you from public criticism. Ms. Eastwood arrived in the nick of time and snatched Mr. York's scalpel from his hands. She injured herself so that Benjamin would not destroy his face. Luckily, Mr. Ryker managed to reach the ceremony in time. Things would have been dire if he hadn't!"
Emmeline stood there, shocked. "So that's…"
Suddenly, she turned around and fled into the house.
Benjamin was about to go upstairs when he heard Emmeline sobbing behind him. "Benjamin?"
Benjamin was taken aback. He turned around and saw Emmeline standing there. She seemed lonely.
"Benjamin, why did you lie to me?" Emmeline said.
"Emma? What are you saying?" Benjamin said.
"I said, why did you lie to me? The two of you lied to me!"
Benjamin pressed his lips together. He walked down the stairs and toward Emmeline.
Janie hastily stood up from the sofa. "What do you mean, Emma? We never lied to you!"
"I know everything now." Tears fell from Emmeline's eyes. "Benjamin, you did that because of me, and Janie hurt herself to save you!"
Benjamin turned his head furiously at Yvonne. "Yvonne! What did you tell Ms. Louise?"
Yvonne's face turned pale. She drooped her head and said, "Mr. York, I came to Struyria from Adelmar Island with you and Ms. Louise. I can't bear to see any misunderstandings between you two."
"That's none of your business! Get lost!" Benjamin said angrily.
"You can't blame Yvonne!" Emmeline took Yvonne's arm. "She doesn't want to see us drift apart."
"But Emma…"
"I know you didn't want to tell me because you didn't want me to feel guilty, but I'd rather feel guilty than lose my trust in you. Have you ever considered that, Benjamin?"
"…"
Indeed, he did not consider that. All he wanted was for Emmeline not to be sad.
He forgot that Emmeline would feel worse if she lost her trust in him.
"Emma…"
"This is all my fault, Emma. I was too reckless," Janie said with tears in her eyes.
"You shouldn't blame yourself, Janie." Emmeline went over and hugged Janie tightly. "Thank you, Janie. If you hadn't interfered, Benjamin would have destroyed his face. But you injured yourself seriously because of this incident. I don't know what I should think."
"The incident is in the past," Janie said while patting her back. "And I'm fine now. You don't have to blame yourself."
"You see, Emma, I didn't want this to happen," Benjamin said.
Emmeline turned to Benjamin and sobbed, "I was mistaken about you, Benjamin. I nearly lost my trust in you."
Benjamin hugged her gently and wiped her tears. "Everything is fine now. If you keep on being sad, I'll have to scold Yvonne!"
"You should thank Yvonne," Emmeline said. "Do you want us to drift apart? Master Robert will be angry at you if he finds out!"
"But he wants me to protect you. That was the only way I could ensure you're not hurt."
"I know. I'm not angry at you anymore."
"You shouldn't blame yourself either. I'll take good care of Janie."
"Mm. I'm relieved to hear that." Emmeline smiled.
Benjamin patted her head and said, "I will be a good elder brother to you, Emma. No matter what happens, I won't cause you to lose your trust in me."
"Mm!" Emmeline sniffled and nodded.
"Alright, your eyes are bloodshot now. Abel will scold me if he sees this," Benjamin said while playfully pinching her cheek.
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