Led by intuition, Mia wanted to refute but was stopped by the headmaster’s lift of an arm.
He frowned and looked around before fixating his gaze on Janet.
“Janet Hancock, tell me. What happened?”
Janet gave a detailed account of events.
With so many present, she offered an objective and fair narration without spicing up or twisting the facts.
With that, a furrow deepened between Oliver’s brows.
“So Celine, you believe that Nell stole your original design print from five years ago intending to whitewash the scandal tonight and frame you instead. Hence, the reason why you sent Mia to steal the document?”
Celine froze.
After a while, she took a deep breath.
A superficial argument was futile at that point.
Thus, Celine answered, “I admit, I did bring it up to her in passing that Nell had taken the original and may use it against me but I never told her to steal for me.
I was caught by surprise by her actions tonight. I would have stopped her if I knew.”
The principal raised his arm to cut her off.
He then turned to glance at Nell. “What about you? What’s your version of events?”
Nell curled her lips into a sarcastic smile.
“You said that I stole your original work... Celine Jennings, can you tell me when did I steal it?”
Celine frowned.
“How would I know?”
“So you told someone at your convenience and framed it on me when you don’t even know?”
Celine, “...”
She took a brief moment to regain composure before flashing a smile.
“Fine, my lapse of judgment has caused you an injustice. For this, I sincerely apologize. However, you can’t deny what you did five years ago! I was only acting upon the fear brought about by that incident and was worried that you’ll be like before, stopping at nothing to frame me. I might have been a little too sensitive but can you blame me?”
As Celine coughed up a story, a hint of delight alighted in her eyes.
Nell may have pressured Mia into revealing that Celine was the one who got in the way of Jason and Nell’s relationship but so what?
In the world of love, the unrequited was ‘the other woman’!
Celine finally saw it.
The conversation they had earlier in the ballroom was just to bluff her.
Ha! She had already destroyed the original manuscript. Where on earth would there be another original?
As long as Celine clung on to the incident from five years ago, Nell could never turn the tide despite her best efforts.
Just as she suspected, the people’s opinions began to sway.
“It makes sense. Once bitten, twice shy. It’s normal to harbor suspicions.”
“I guess this is called paranoia?”
“What’s with this family? So many twists and turns.”
The headmaster glowered too.
He was aware of the incident during then. Nevertheless, by logic, the years following should see a calm after the storm!
However, Oliver said nothing but took a glance at Nell.
Nell curled the corner of the lips as she enunciated each word carefully. “I seem to recall that I never acknowledged that I was responsible for the incident five years ago.”
She somehow stemmed the tide of discussion around.
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