The Hidden Empress Stripping Her Secrets After Divorce novel Chapter 50

"I didn't push him," Evelyn's voice was as still as deep water. "Leo tripped on his own. I tried to catch him, but I was too late."

"Too late?" Penelope's voice spiked. "With all those eyes on you, you're still trying to lie?"

"There are security cameras in the office," Evelyn enunciated every word clearly. "You can pull the footage and see for yourself."

The words dropped like a stone into a dead pool; the living room instantly plummeted into a terrifying silence.

Christian's frown deepened. The arm Lyra had wrapped around the boy tightened fractionally, but she maintained her pitiful facade, even shrinking closer to Christian.

Penelope's expression faltered for a moment before twisting into a smug, chilling sneer. "Cameras? Ha! You only dare suggest that because you know the security system in Christian's office has been under maintenance for the last two days, don't you?"

Evelyn's pupils contracted slightly.

The cameras... were under maintenance?

How incredibly convenient.

Her gaze swept slowly across every person in the room—Penelope's face twisted with spite and undisguised disgust; Lyra playing the meek victim while the microscopic twitch of her lips betrayed her triumph; Christian sitting in silence, his thumb unconsciously stroking the armrest of the sofa.

And Leo... the two-year-old was currently clutching Lyra's blouse, burying his face in his mother's chest while peeking out at her with timid eyes. Within that gaze was a child's instinctual fear and confusion, mixed with a trace of... hostility, clearly absorbed from the adults around him.

Evelyn suddenly felt incredibly tired.

Not heartbroken, not angry, just a bone-deep, marrow-sucking exhaustion.

She looked at this living room full of people—her mother-in-law in name, her husband by law, his mistress, and his illegitimate son.

What a perfect, complete family.

And she, from the very beginning, had always been the extraneous outsider.

"Mom," Christian finally spoke, his voice hoarse. "Stop it."

"Stop what?" Penelope snapped her head around. "Christian, look at her! She's still lying through her teeth! What kind of terrible karma did the Lancaster family accumulate to end up marrying such a..."

"Enough!"

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