Chapter 324
Emily didn’t hold back-she delivered three stinging slaps in rapid succession.
The sound was so crisp that everyone around felt the sting as if they’d been slapped themselves.
Most of the guests at this birthday party were the type who cared deeply about their reputation. Forget about throwing punches-even raising their voices in an argument was unthinkable. To them, Emily’s behavior was downright crazy.
Maybe it was her wildness that scared everyone off, because not a single person dared to step in. They could only watch as Lydia’s cheek swelled up before their eyes after just two slaps.
Emily, with clear disdain, shoved Lydia away.
Lydia staggered back several steps before landing on her butt in a heap.
Without anyone watching, Emily smoothly slipped a few strands of hair from between her fingers into her pocket. She looked down at Lydia and sneered, “If I wanted to deal with you, this is what I’d do.”
Lydia was shell-shocked. She thought, ‘Back when Emily first came home, she was so timid and spineless she barely dared to say a word. How long has it even been? How did she turn into such a lunatic all of a sudden?’
For a moment, the whole room went dead silent, the air thick with awkwardness.
After what felt like ages, Lydia finally managed to speak. She stammered, “I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. I misunderstood you, Emily.”
She covered her face, crying her eyes out. She choked out, “Emily didn’t ruin my gift out of jealousy. It just broke on its own. It has nothing to do with her. She had every right to be angry and hit me.”
She looked for all the world like someone who’d been wronged but was too scared to stand up for herself-a helpless damsel in distress, beaten down by every storm life threw at her.
Amy frowned at Lydia as she realized what Lydia was implying.
Lydia was still obviously pointing the finger at Emily for breaking her gift.
After all this drama at her birthday party, nobody was in the mood for pleasantries. Amy’s voice grew colder as she asked, “You’re saying she broke it-do you have any proof?”
Lydia looked up at Amy with those pitiful eyes, as if silently pleading, “Please, stand up for me.” She stammered, “I don’t know. I never make enemies. Everyone in my family and all my friends like me except for Emily.”
She shot a quick, cautious glance at Emily and then continued, “At my last birthday party, someone ruined all my gifts. That’s why I suspected Emily.”
The person who’d actually destroyed all Lydia’s gifts at that party was Yvonne, but the whole thing had been deliberately kept under wraps, so hardly anyone knew the truth.
Now, with Lydia subtly steering the conversation, almost everyone in the room was convinced Emily was the one who did it.
They thought, ‘Emily had trashed Lydia’s birthday presents before-she had a record. So it isn’t much of a stretch to think she’d pull the same stunt again.
‘She might’ve been behind today’s disaster, too. Maybe she is just more experienced now, so she doesn’t leave any evidence
behind.
For a moment, the crowd stayed quiet, but the looks they shot Emily were full of mockery.
1/2
Chapter 324
Amy, as calm as ever, broke the silence. She turned to ask Emily, “Do you have anything to say?” She trusted her gut, so she was willing to give Emily a chance to explain herself and clear her name.
Emily could sense Amy’s goodwill, and her gaze toward Amy became even more respectful and apologetic.
She said. “I haven’t broken anything, and I never wanted to cause any trouble at your birthday party. If you’re willing, could you help me by calling the police?*
