Chapter 208 Edith, You've Changed So Much
"What gives you the right to still act so superior?" Celeste's scream echoed through the cold basement air. "Is it that fire-ruined face of yours, or this pathetic state you're in now?"
Edith looked at her quietly, then spoke in a hoarse voice that hit like a sledgehammer.
"If I had not needed it back then, do you think Isabella could have easily brought you, an illegitimate daughter kept in the shadows, into the Neville Family and let you enjoy a few days of so-called wealth under the title of adopted daughter?"
The wild laughter on Celeste's face suddenly froze.
Edith's words were like a bucket of ice water thrown in her face, making her instantly forget to struggle.
She stared wide-eyed at Edith in disbelief. "You... what did you say? You knew all along before you faked your death that I was Isabella's daughter? And you still..."
"Of course I knew." Edith cut her off without courtesy.
"From the moment you were sent to Grandhaven by that ambitious father of yours, secretly approaching Isabella, I knew. That foolish woman, still fantasizing about having the love of two men at the same time, brought you back legitimately. I knew even more clearly that she wanted to use you to get the Neville Family's fortune. What she wanted was never just to be Mrs. Neville, but to use the Neville Family as a stepping stone to build her own business empire."
"Then why..." Celeste's voice began to tremble. She felt completely fooled.
"Then why did you fake your death and not stop me from entering the Neville Family? Why did you give me the chance to get close to everything that should have been mine?"
"Stop you? Why would I stop you?" Edith chuckled lightly, tilting her head.
"I never wanted the Neville Family's fortune. Those things meant nothing to me. What I wanted, from beginning to end, was only Linus."
She paused, her gaze drifting into the void, as if seeing the distant past, nostalgia crossing her face.
Her gaze refocused, sweeping coldly over Celeste's pale face, then glancing at the silent Alexander.
"The Neville Family had three daughters. As long as any one of them could slightly hold Alexander's heart, it would distract him enough to give him less energy to target Linus, and my goal would be achieved. Unfortunately..."
A twisted arc formed at the corner of her mouth.
"You two, one more foolish than the other. You only knew how to covet immediate luxury and status, putting profit first in any contact with anyone, shallow and impatient. If I had not disappeared for five years, giving you the chance to imitate my mannerisms—and you imitated them fairly well—you would never have been qualified to make him look at you twice."
Her gaze slowly turned to Alexander, her eyes full of mockery.
"And the other one, her love was pure enough, but hopelessly stupid. She only knew how to give endlessly, never speaking up no matter how much she was wronged, like a sealed vessel. Counting on her was like expecting a pig to climb a tree. In the end, was it not me who had to endure the disgust and personally approach you, Alexander?"
"Enough! Shut up! Shut up!"
Celeste, driven mad by the truth Edith revealed, waved her chain-bound arms and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"What is the point of saying all this now?! Linus has already lost! Lost completely! Right before my eyes, shot dead by his dear nephew! You guarded him for so many years, ruined your face for him, turned into this state—what is the use?! He still died, died completely!"
The name Linus finally tore through the cold, proud mask on Edith's face.
Hearing that Linus was dead, she, who had been calm all along, suddenly trembled.
In those lifeless eyes, waves suddenly surged.
"No... impossible... you are lying! Linus... he would not..."
She spoke incoherently, her voice shaking terribly, tears surging out without warning, dripping onto the cold ground.
She shook her head, as if trying to shake off this terrible news, but the tears flowed even more fiercely.
"How could... we finally fought our way back to Grandhaven, planned for so many years... how could he just die like this..."
Edith murmured, then suddenly laughed lowly.
"Dead... I knew he would not fail to come save me, he just... just really could not make it..."
Seeing her like this, Celeste felt a twisted pleasure rise in her heart, as if she had finally found the fatal weakness to strike this woman who was always so superior, continuing to wound her with cruel words, deepening her pain wave by wave.
"Yes! He is dead! You are stupid, Linus is even more stupid! You even willingly approached Alexander for him, turned into this inhuman ghost, but in the end he still lost! And let me take advantage of it!"
"You wanted to kill Caroline with your own hands at the dock back then, but were disrupted by another group that suddenly appeared, and almost got blown up yourself! Forced to fake your death and flee! But that is good too—this move made Alexander suffer for five years, made Caroline suffer for five years, and now that child died along with them!"
"From this perspective, are we not sisters in spirit? Without your part back then, or without my fanning the flames, we could not have achieved such a perfect ending today! We really are natural good sisters!"
"Shut up! Shut up!"
Edith was finally pushed beyond reason, letting out a shrill scream and struggling to get up from the ground.
"You are not worthy to mention him! You are not worthy to comment on Linus! I am going to kill you, you bitch!"
She suddenly lunged at Celeste.
But her body was weak, and she had sat on the ground for too long, her movements stumbling.
Before she could touch Celeste, a cold large hand reached out from the side, effortlessly grabbing her back and pressing her heavily against the wall.
Edith was pinned against the cold wall by Alexander, breathing heavily.
But when she met this silent man's eyes, Edith suddenly calmed, her gaze full of undisguised contempt, as if wanting to tear open the cold shell of this man who had lost his wife and child.
Alexander looked at her coldly. After a moment, he finally spoke slowly.
"You have changed a lot, Edith."
Hearing this, Edith pulled at the corner of her mouth, revealing a mocking smile.
She raised her hand, her fingertips lightly brushing over the uneven scars on her face.
"Of course, my face was completely ruined. Struggling back from the abyss of despair, of course I am different from before. But maybe I never changed. You were foolish and never really saw who I was back then."