In the banquet hall, Sophia carried herself with grace. Suddenly, she turned toward the noble ladies and said, "Did any of you hear dogs barking?"
The ladies fell silent. There really were dogs barking and it sounded pitiful.
"What's going on?"
Sophia's gaze swept past the rushing butler. With a changed expression, the butler exclaimed, "Master, Madam, something's wrong! Winnie Anderson, she..."
"What's wrong with Winnie Anderson?" Sophia stood up with concern.
"Winnie Anderson, she ... she did something to her dogs ... you all should come see!" The butler's hesitant words and terrified expression piqued the curiosity of the noble ladies. Sophia exchanged a glance with Matthew and they rushed toward the backyard with everyone following suit.
While walking, Sophia glanced at Lily in the crowd. Receiving the hint, Lily immediately exclaimed, "Could it be that Winnie has gone insane?"
"She really is mentally ill, huh?" another noble lady chimed in.
"With her kidnapping and adultery, it's hard to believe she's not mentally unstable..."
The murmurs grew louder and when the name Winnie was mentioned, expressions of disdain unconsciously appeared on their faces. Sophia lowered her head, a smug smile creeping up as she is thinking to herself, 'Winnie, your good days are over today!'
At this moment, Sophia was eagerly looking forward to witnessing the cruel scene where everyone would witness Winnie mercilessly killing her own dogs.
She would then have Matthew call a doctor and have Winnie diagnosed with an incurable illness, taken away by the police and sent to a mental institution so that she could never come out again where she is going to be condemned for a lifetime.
She would never be able to make a comeback as this pesky troublemaker will be properly dealt with once and for all.
Compared to Winnie's methods, she paled in comparison.
A sinister smile lingered. After the servants broke open the door, she walked into the dim basement.
The stench of dogs' bloods overwhelmed everyone and when the servants turned on the lights, the noble ladies saw a girl sitting among the pile of flesh and blood.
Her hands and face were covered in blood and even her teeth were stained with blood as she is looking like she had gone mad and tore raw meat with her teeth.
"Ah! What is this? Who killed the dogs? Was it Winnie?"
"Winnie!" Sophia hurriedly crouched down. Her face full of anxiety as she tried to support the girl.
"Even if you're mentally ill and just suffered some ridicule and grievance at the banquet, this is your own pet dog. How could you be so cruel to kill your own dogs, you-"
She explained Winnie's illness and triggers and was about to signal to Matthew to call a doctor when suddenly Sophia saw the girl's face clearly. She screamed and fell back to the ground, her face turning pale.
"Aunt Sophia, why are you calling me?"
Winnie walked out lazily from the side and suddenly screamed, "Ah, it's Ava!"
All the ladies' gaze turned toward the girl in the pool of blood.
It was actually Ava on the floor. Sophia was dumbfounded. She looked up at the shocked gaze of the composed Winnie then lowered her head and could hardly believe that her daughter was the one who had bitten and killed the dogs.
Sophia couldn't understand at all. She couldn't understand how is it Ava in the pool of blood instead of Winnie. Her plan was flawless and she doesn't know where did it all went wrong. Snapping back to reality, Sophia almost pierced Winnie with a look of hatred.
Matthew's jaw dropped, his eyes widen in disbelief. He immediately instructed the butler to disperse the onlookers but everyone was too curious and refused to leave.
Sophia suddenly covered Ava's mouth and secretly woke her daughter up.
Ava was unconscious and it took several taps for her to wake up. "Mom, why am I here? Ah!"
Witnessing blood splattered across the floor and the assumed lifeless bodies of the dogs, Ava let out a terrified scream while shielding her head.
Winnie enjoyed the intense drama happening between these people, slowly crouched down, and innocently said, "Ava, what's wrong with you? How could you kill my dogs?"
"I didn't, I didn't kill the dogs," Ava said, her face turning pale. She looked toward her mother, confused.
"Enough! Stop talking nonsense, everyone should stop looking as well. These are just frozen dogs' meat from the freezer. Ava's weak, she accidentally fainted here. It's a misunderstanding!"
Sophia forcefully pretended to be calm and quickly explained, smiling as she urged everyone to leave.
"Sophia, is Ava unwell? I noticed the discarded medicine box in the kitchen trash. Could it be related to another recent miscarriage, leading her emotions to unravel and perhaps drive her to an extreme act like harming a dog?" Winnie calmly speculated.
The crowd looked at her strangely. They caught onto the key point. Sophia wished she could rip Winnie's mouth apart. Unfortunately, that was impossible.
At this moment, Mrs. Davis, with a grim face, stepped forward as she asked while looking at Ava, "What really happened? Did Ava really have a miscarriage?
"Has Daniel's family experienced any miscarriages before?"
Everyone knew that Mrs. Davis is very classy and picky so it was quite a feat for Ava to win her approval this time. After all, Mrs. Davis despised mistresses but unfortunately, her son was smitten with Ava.
Her questioning left Ava and Sophia stunned.
Winnie then earnestly spoke up, "Aunt Davis, don't you know? Last time, there was a video circulating of Ava having a miscarriage. Aunt Sophia, it's not good for her body to have multiple abortions, no matter how much medication she takes. Although she is young, living a promiscuous life too early is not good."
The wealthy ladies were outraged, whispering disdainfully, "What's going on? Has Ava had multiple miscarriages?
"Mrs. Sophia just praised her daughter for being chaste and virtuous and now she has been proven wrong in an instant." At this point, Mrs. Davis stood up. She despised Daniel, the illegitimate son and sneered,
"This second son really has poor taste in women." Mrs. Davis was even more bleak, directing all her pent-up resentment toward Ava, glaring at her angrily and storming off. After Winnie finished advising, she gracefully smiled and left.
Sophia sat down on the ground while discussions erupted all around her. Ava, with a tearful voice, stood up and went after Mrs. Davis. Matthew who was panting heavily stared at Sophia with his eyes wide open, fixated on her like a bell.
Sophia was pale, almost biting her teeth hard enough to draw blood and swallow it. She clenched her hands tight. Winnie, who she had originally intended to humiliate and send her to a mental hospital, unexpectedly ended up humiliating and trapping Ava instead.
With a grim face, Matthew tidied up the aftermath. Fortunately, there weren't many wealthy ladies who followed them so he could silence them with money but it still made him ache.
As for Ava, the couple forcefully explained that it was a misunderstanding and accused Winnie of having a mental illness, fabricating facts. However, Mrs. Davis did not believe their final explanation and left the Anderson family home directly.