Chapter 166 The Assassin Is Still Alive
Anne sneered coldly, "Since you know I only took what was mine when I left, why bother saying I took everything from the Titan family? I made it crystal clear when I left—I have nothing to do with Holden or the Titan family anymore. Yet you people insisted on coming after me. Do you think I'm easy to bully? Want to put on another show of stealing my dowry?"
"When did I ever steal your dowry?" The old lady's eyes widened, "You need evidence when you talk. Even if you resent Holden for wanting to marry Candy, that was approved by His Majesty first, you..."
"The assassin locked in the Titan family's basement didn't die," Anne said flatly. "The poison was intercepted before it reached him. I brought him back to the Virlet family and locked him in our basement."
The old lady's whole body shook.
Hearing the word "assassin," the surrounding nobles started asking, "What assassin?"
"Why are we suddenly talking about an assassin?"
Anne's expression was cold. "Back when I was at the Titan family, Holden wanted to marry Candy but couldn't afford the bride price, so they demanded I hand over part of my dowry to help Holden successfully marry Candy."
"I didn't want to be a fool giving away money, so I only agreed to lend it. Holden refused, and you all said I was being difficult. Then not long after, I was attacked by an assassin in my room at the Titan family house. Can you explain that?"
Anne's voice was calm, but the noble ladies around her couldn't help gasping in shock.
How could there be an assassination in a heavily guarded noble house, unless someone deliberately let the killer in?
Why would someone send an assassin after Anne?
Everyone had the same question, and the answer quickly became clear.
For Anne's dowry.
A family desperate for money would do anything.
"If I hadn't known swordsmanship and been able to counter the assassin's attack and capture him, maybe by the next day I would've been just another corpse in a pile of beggars, maybe alongside some homeless person—either way, not a pretty picture. Then the Titan family could have gotten my dowry and everyone's sympathy too."
"That assassin confessed everything. Who exactly sent him to kill me, Old Titan Lady?"
At the mention of the assassin, the old lady's face went white with fear. She pointed at Anne with a trembling hand, "You, you..."
"Going to say I'm framing you again, or something else?"
Anne thought for a moment. "Oh right, Nina just said I divorced Holden over some trivial matter, didn't she?"
"Your so-called trivial matter was Holden leaving for the southern battlefield on our wedding day, then coming back three years later with a woman he absolutely had to marry, demanding I accept it, and that I should just manage the household. Then maybe later he'd consider doing me a favor and let me have a child."
"I refused, and you told me to sleep with other men for the Titan family's sake. Ha! Holden doesn't even deserve to touch a finger of mine, and you dared to dream I'd be with other men?"
"Later, to grab the dowry I held, you and Holden directly threatened me, saying you'd send me to a nursing home to service old men. That's your trivial matter?"
"You told everyone I was abandoned by Holden and kicked out of the Titan family, but the truth is I petitioned His Majesty and legally divorced Holden. If anyone was abandoned, it was me abandoning Holden—me discarding the Titan family!"
As Anne's words came out, the surroundings erupted. Those noble ladies and wives, and the people secretly listening to the gossip, stared at the old lady in disbelief, with only one thought in their minds.
What were they thinking?
The noble Virlet daughter married down into the Titan family, yet they not only disrespected her but tried to prostitute a duke's daughter and dump her in a nursing home?
And what right did Holden have to marry two wives at once, and dare demand Anne accept it?
They'd all been quietly gossiping about whether Anne going to His Majesty to help her divorce was too much, but it turned out the disgusting ones all along were the Titan family.
What a Titan family—poor and completely lacking self-awareness.
And after being abandoned by Duke Virlet, Holden married the so-called Empire's first female knight commander, who then went to the eastern battlefield, got captured and passed around by soldiers, and was only sent back after being completely ruined.
After all that, the couple didn't even gain any military merit. The Titan family initially thought the accomplished female knight was Candy and held some ball. Not only did none of the invited guests show up, but the uninvited low-ranking nobles who came spread word that the desserts at the ball were just pretty-looking garbage that even dogs wouldn't eat.
At first they didn't quite believe it—the Titan family were nobles after all, how could they do something so ridiculous?
Now seeing the old lady in person trying to smear Anne, they'd witnessed firsthand just how shameless people could be.
The old lady was so angry she felt dizzy. "Shut up, you shut up! You're the one who was abandoned. You couldn't keep your husband's heart, didn't know how to please your husband with your body, saving your purity for what!"
"Now you're bringing these people to deliberately smear the Titan family. Damn it, I was originally thinking that since His Majesty ordered you to find a suitable husband within three months, I'd let Holden reluctantly get back together with you to help solve this problem. Now even if you come begging to the Titan family, I won't agree!"
Anne calmly looked away, too lazy to even glance at the old lady again. "No need for your help. Even if I went blind, I wouldn't pick up trash. You want me to keep supporting the Titan family? Give it up. I'm not you—I don't have failing eyesight."
"You can stay here or leave. I won't do anything to you, but this estate does have an owner, and I imagine the hosts might not want people blocking the entrance, since everyone's carriages will need to pass through here when they leave."
"If you really think there's a problem, why not go straight to the royal city and request an audience with His Majesty? I can bring that assassin too, and we can lay everything out before His Majesty and see how he judges it. I just wonder if you'll say I'm bullying you with my power then?"