She Outshines Them All (Athena and Matthew) novel Chapter 43

Chapter 43
“Enough!” At that moment, Jarred, who was seated at the same table as Athena, suddenly stood up. His voice was firm yet polite as he said, “Miss Donovan, Mrs. Kennedy, tonight is Zoe’s graduation celebration.
“I kindly ask you both to give me this favor. Let’s set aside your grievances until after the party. Let Zoe enjoy her evening in peace.”
Athena smiled, realizing that now that things were turning against the Kennedy family, the Murray family finally decided to step in.
She didn’t rush to respond, instead, she just gave Regina a cold, steady look.
Regina was reluctant, but she didn’t have enough evidence to prove that Athena had stolen the diamond ring. She was also worried that any surveillance footage Athena presented might work against the Kennedy family, and she feared the influence of Harry, who was backing Athena. Reluctantly, she took the way out offered to her, “The Kennedy family and the Murray family are longtime friends, so of course, we’ll respect your wishes.”
With that, Athena graciously spread her hands. “Since Zoe went through so much trouble to invite my entire family, I’ll give her this favor as well.”
Jarred smiled. Thank you all. Let’s raise a toast.”
Athena raised her glass and took & small sip of red wine.
After she sat down, Arthur leaned over and whispered in her ear, Athena, after they accused you like that, why did you let them off so easily? I think you should’ve shown the footage and made them apologize.”
Athena chuckled softly. “There is no footage.”
Arthur blinked in surprise. “What? What do you mean?”
Athena grinned like a fox. “I was bluffing.”
Back when she was staying at the Kennedy family’s house, she never imagined they would try to frame her. Plus, since there were already cameras in the common areas, it never occurred to her to install a separate camera in her room.
She was betting that whoever was framing her would be too scared to risk her producing the footage.
Of course, even if they had called her bluff and demanded the footage, she had other ways to prove her innocence-it just would ve been more of a hassle.
“You… you…” Arthur stared at her, dumbfounded, before finally murmuring, “You really took that gamble? You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
Athena’s nerves were incredible, and she played the part so convincingly that he had fully believed she had actual footage and was eagerly waiting for her to show it to crush the Kennedy family,
Athena laughed. “Why not? I’m pretty gutsy.”
Arthur had nothing more to say, so he just gave her a thumbs-up
Zoe, who had been watching Athena laughing and chatting, felt a flicker of anger in her eyes.
When she had visited Regina at the Kennedy family’s house, Regina had shown off that diamond ring, which sparked an idea in Zoe. She secretly hacked into the Kennedy family’s security system, causing the cameras to malfunction so they couldn’t record:
Chapter 43
Then, she sneaked into Regina’s bedroom, took the ring, and later slipped it into Athena’s coat pocket to frame her.
The plan had worked-until Athena claimed she had installed a hidden camera in her room, nearly exposing everything. But no matter, the diamond ring incident was just a minor setback. Her real plan hadn’t been put into action yet.
She glanced at the time-it was already 5:10 PM. She signaled the staff to stop the music and prepared to go on stage to give her speech.
But just then, a commotion erupted at the entrance, and someone shouted, “Mr. Harper has arrived!”
The guests buzzed with excitement. They glanced at Athena, then at Gia, before exchanging knowing smiles and turning their attention to the entrance, whispering among themselves.
“Wow, this is getting good! One drama ends, and another one begins. Even TV shows aren’t this entertaining.”
“I heard Mr. Harper canceled his engagement with Athena and plans to marry the real daughter of the Kennedy family. With both the fake and real daughters here tonight, do you think they’ll end up fighting over him?”
“This is a real showdown-on one side, the new love like a princess, on the other, the old flame like a goddess. Who’s he going to choose?”
“Only kids make choices-adults want both. One as a wife, the other as a mistress…”
People openly joked and laughed about the situation.
Wesley and the others looked furious, almost ready to pull Athena out of there.
But Athena stayed calm, smiling as if none of it bothered her at all.
Lucas entered, dressed in a stylish lavender checkered suit paired with white trousers. With his handsome face and tall, slender figure, he stood out among the men in dark suits, exuding a unique blend of elegance and trendiness.
On his arm was his well-endowed but not particularly bright sister, Jodie.
Jodie wore a bright yellow princess dress. Her large eyes appeared unfocused, as if she were severely nearsighted, giving her a dreamy, slightly dazed look that made people worry she might trip because she couldn’t see clearly.
In reality, she wasn’t nearsighted; she just naturally had that spacey, slightly slow-witted demeanor.
“Mr. Harper is still as handsome as ever, some women couldn’t help but admire. “If he wanted to marry me, I’d pay him to do it”
“Poor Athena, she was so close to becoming the Harper family’s daughter-in-law, but now the Kennedy family’s real daughter is getting all the benefits…”
“I can believe Athena doesn’t care about the Kennedy family’s fortune, but there’s no way she’s okay with losing Mr. Harper…
Lucas overheard the murmurs around him. He lifted his chin slightly, casting a sidelong glance at Athena, his expression clearly saying, “Did you hear that? Letting me go was your biggest mistake.
Tonight, I’ll be with Gia, while you’re stuck with your shabby family, mocked and scorned by everyone…”
Athena, meanwhile, was calmly feeding Josie fruit, not even sparing Lucas a glance.
Lucas sneered internally, “Keep up the act. Let’s see how long you can keep pretending.”
Following the usher, he made his way to the front of the hall, where his seat was set at the Kennedy family’s table
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Chapter 43
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Regina’s eyes flickered with a quick idea. She stood up and warmly called out, “Mr. Harper, why don’t you sit here with us?
The crowd chuckled, thinking she was really playing dirty.
Athena’s seat was directly in front of Regina, who was flanked by Andrew on one side and Gia on the other. By inviting Lucas to sit right behind Athena and next to Gia, it was clear that Regis was trying to provoke Athena.
Lucas couldn’t have been more pleased with this setup.
“Thank you, Mrs. Kennedy, Lucas stood beside Athena, graciously thanking Regina.
“You’re welcome; we’re practically family,” Regina replied with a knowing smile as she moved to sit on the other side of the table.
look especially beautiful tonight. Lucas said as he sat down, greeting her with all the charm of a gentleman.
Gia smiled sweetly. “Thank you, you’re looking particularly handsome tonight too.”
Andrew patted Lucas on the shoulder and said loudly, “Mr. Harper, aren’t you going to say hello to your ex-fiancée, Athena?” “Athena, you’re here too?” Lucas pretended to only now notice her, turning with a look of concern. “It’s been a while; you seem to have lost some weight. Haven’t you been getting enough rest?”
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