Fake Heiress Reborn Drops Masks Finds Family (Noelle and Sebastian) novel Chapter 570

Christine's expression darkened.

Timothy continued, "Ms. Duncan, I did all of it. I was the one who hid Ms. Kain in my home, the one who got her into the Nightfall Circle, the one who helped her hide her identity. My wife and son knew nothing. They're innocent. Please let them go. I'll take responsibility for everything myself."

"Dad!" Zane suddenly lifted his head, a fierce light bursting from the narrow slit left of his swollen eye. "What are you talking about? If we die, we die together. I'm not leaving!"

Elsa lifted her head too, tears covering her face, but her voice came out even louder than Zane's. "I'm not leaving either! If this family dies, then we die together! What's the point of me living alone?"

Timothy's eyes reddened. His lips trembled as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he swallowed the words back down.

Someone in the crowd quietly muttered, "The Covingtons' got backbone..."

"What's the use of a backbone? They broke the island's rules. They deserve death!"

"Exactly. An outsider is still an outsider, no matter how skilled they are!"

Christine raised her hand, and the crowd fell silent once again.

She looked at Timothy with eyes as cold as ice. "Timothy Covington, harboring an outsider is an unforgivable crime. Since you confessed willingly, I can at least grant you a quick death. As for your wife and son, according to the island's laws, they share the same guilt. Execution."

Timothy's body violently stiffened. He turned to look at his wife and son tied to the pillars beside him, and tears finally streamed down his face.

"Ms. Duncan..." His voice was so hoarse it was almost impossible to hear. "They truly knew nothing... Please..."

"Rules are rules," Christine cut him off flatly without a trace of emotion. "Carry out the execution."

Several black-clothed guards stepped onto the platform and unsheathed their long blades. The sharp edges glinted coldly beneath the morning light.

Elsa closed her eyes, her lips trembling, but she didn't cry.

Zane gritted his teeth and glared at Christine like he wanted to carve her face into his bones forever.

The blades swung down toward their necks.

"Stop!"

A young but powerful voice exploded from behind the crowd.

The voice wasn't loud, but it carried a pressure completely mismatched with the speaker's age, amplified through internal force so every word rang crystal clear and shook people to the core.

Everyone turned toward the source of the voice.

The crowd automatically parted to make way. A little boy walked out from behind the crowd.

Of course, she knew who this child was. Howard Patton, Floyd's adopted heir and the future head of the Pattons.

Floyd treated him like his own son, doting on him to the point of obsession, afraid something might happen to him if he so much as looked away for a second.

Everyone on the nameless island knew that offending Howard meant offending Floyd.

Christine inhaled slowly, forcing down the anger in her chest before squeezing out a faint smile. "Mr. Patton, the Covingtons hid outsiders. The evidence is undeniable. The Four Great Families jointly rule the Nightfall Circle. As the head of the Duncans, do I not even have the authority to deal with a minor family harboring outsiders?"

"You do." Howard's voice remained calm. "But the rules say investigation first, judgment second. Did you investigate them? Who was investigated? Did all three members of the Covingtons formally confess their crimes?"

Christine's smile stiffened on her face.

Howard took another step forward and looked up at her, his eyes so bright that they seemed capable of seeing through everything. "Ms. Duncan, in front of everyone on this island, you're preparing to execute people without even holding a trial. Are these the rules of the Four Great Families, or just the Duncans' rules?"

Whispers immediately began spreading through the crowd.

"Yeah... why execute them without a trial?"

"The Pattons oversee discipline and investigations. There really should've been an investigation first..."

"Are the Duncans moving too fast on this?"