Chapter 183 Shave the Adoptive Younger Sister’s Head and Send Her to a Convent!

Chapter 183 Shave the Adoptive Younger Sister’s Head and Send Her to a Convent!

Rose was so stunned she couldn't find words.

Her mouth opened and closed: "Father, I... I..."

But Patrick called out to the door: "Bring that wretch in."

Noah led a group of men and dragged Molly inside — barely alive, covered in blood.

They threw her straight onto the floor. Molly struggled and begged for mercy.

"Mr. Patrick Hamilton... please spare my life."

Patrick fixed his eyes on Rose: "You sent a maid to the goldsmith to have a gold hairpin made, demanded it overnight, and left the Hamilton family name. You fool — if the authorities send someone to investigate, one question is all it takes to show you have something to hide!"

He was furious. He grabbed the gold hairpin and hurled it at Rose, hitting her hard.

It hurt badly, but she didn't dare dodge. She dropped to her knees with a thud, tears streaming down her face.

"Father, I truly had nothing to do with Everett's death. I did see him that night, but I only exchanged a few words and left!"

"What good does telling me do? The staff at Lumina Retreat know your face. The Howard family's servants know your face. Just wait — it won't be long before they show up at our door with the authorities, and you'll drag the Hamilton name through the mud!"

Patrick finished speaking, still not satisfied. He suddenly stood up and kicked her hard.

Rose collapsed, hissing in pain.

She forced herself to push through it and held herself up: "Father, I'm truly innocent! That night, Cressida was the last person to see Everett. She was at Lumina Retreat too. If you don't believe me, question her maid Verity — one ask and you'll know the truth!"

Cressida heard her name but didn't stir. She sat perfectly still.

Patrick roared: "Ridiculous! Cressida went to Lumina Retreat to accompany the princess at a banquet. How dare you drag her into this?"

Rose was at a complete loss for words.

What shocked her most was the confusion — Everett had clearly seen Cressida arrive. How could she possibly have been there to see the princess?

"Father, please believe me! Everett said he wanted to teach Cressida a lesson and lured her there on purpose — and then he died under mysterious circumstances. Given how skilled Cressida is in combat, doesn't that seem suspicious?"

"Everett didn't even know Cressida. Why would he want to teach her a lesson?" Jessica shot back.

Rose's eyes darted away: "That day, Mrs. Aurora Howard went to the church and ran into Cressida. Maybe Cressida said something unpleasant, Everett found out, and decided to get back at her..."

Cressida set down her teacup.

Her voice was cool and detached: "Rose, you lie as naturally as you breathe. My meeting with Mrs. Aurora Howard that day was a chance encounter. I had no idea you had already slipped Everett that drug. Tell me — what could I possibly have said against someone who was a complete stranger to me?"

Rita spat out: "I see exactly what's happening. Rose has done every terrible thing and now wants to pin it all on Cressida!"

Patrick pointed at Rose: "Someone come here — slap her hard. Teach her to watch her mouth!"

Ingrid, who stood beside Cressida, stepped forward and took the order.

Rose's hands were seized, and Ingrid raised her rough palm and landed two sharp slaps across her face.

She wouldn't stop until Patrick said so.

Rose let out a wretched cry.

The wounds on her face had only just healed — now they were torn open again, bright blood running freely.

Cressida watched in silence as the blood fell drop by drop, and it brought back the misery of her past life.

Her blood had drained away just like this. If she hadn't clung so desperately to family in her last life, she never would have ended up in Clio and the others' hands.

While Rose was being beaten, Brynn finally worked up the nerve to speak carefully: "Patrick, having a murderer in this household is no small matter. She may only be a goddaughter, but if word gets out, everyone else's reputation will be ruined too."

Jessica and Rita were both at the age of marriage. And Cressida would surely be matched soon as well — the king would never overlook a family as prominent as the Hamilton family.

Patrick was thinking about his own reputation too.

A goddaughter he had raised for years — not only had she pushed Everett to take that drug, she had killed him in a quarrel. Whether it was an accident or intentional, once it spread, he would be the first one laughed out of the entire court.

Rita said: "Why not hand her over to the authorities and let her face what she deserves?"

The Howard family would never let Rose off.

"No." Patrick refused without hesitation. "We raised a murderer in this house. If that gets out, your reputations are ruined and the Hamilton name is disgraced. We cannot come clean. Not now."

Brynn, never one to have her own ideas, pressed: "Then what do we do?"

Patrick paced back and forth, brow deeply furrowed.

He had never been a man of great cunning. He racked his brain and still couldn't come up with a good plan.

How could he bury this and keep Rose's mess from touching the rest of them?

Then Patrick looked toward Cressida.

Through all of this, Cressida had been as still as deep water — not a ripple.

Even with Rose beaten to this state, she hadn't so much as frowned.

"Cressida, why aren't you saying anything?" Patrick asked.

Cressida set down her teacup, her tone unhurried: "When it comes to Rose, it's hard for me to say anything. Mother treats her like her own heart. If I'm the one to deal with her, Mother will hate me for it."

Patrick pressed firmly: "Never mind her. I'm giving you permission to speak. Say it now — what should be done? Give me a plan."

Cressida glanced at Ingrid, who immediately stopped.

By now, Rose had been slapped more than twenty times. Her cheeks were swollen and grotesque, soaked in blood that had stained the front of her dress.

The moment Ingrid let go, Rose crumpled to the floor, twitching faintly from the pain.

Cressida looked down at her and spoke calmly: "Dealing with her is simple enough. Shave her head and send her to a convent. If the authorities come looking for her, we say she fled out of guilt — we have no idea where she went."

"As for later, if the authorities find her at the convent, we just need to keep our story straight — that she shaved her head and hid there herself, trying to escape capture. It has nothing to do with the Hamilton family."

Sending someone to a convent — that had once been Clio's favorite threat to hold over Cressida.

Because those convents were no kind place. Girls sent there rarely fared well. And everyone knew that only young ladies who had done something wrong were sent away like that — it was a soft death sentence.

Most people found it too grim to think about, and stayed well away.

Brynn said: "A convent is perfect. The girls sent there are the ones guilty of fornication, losing their virtue, or running off with men. It's not even unfair to her!"

At those words, Rose snapped her head up. Through all the blood on her face, her eyes went wide.

She struggled to push herself up, but Ingrid planted a foot on her back and pinned her down.

She could only lie there and scream hoarsely: "Cressida! You can't do this to me! I'm innocent! I didn't kill anyone!"

Cressida looked down at her, eyes as indifferent as someone watching an insect: "If you truly believe you're innocent, you're welcome to go to the authorities and plead your case — as long as you're not afraid of the Howard family coming after you."

"From today, the Hamilton family will no longer acknowledge that you exist. Rose, your days as a goddaughter in this family are over."

"You—" Rose trembled all over, then suddenly shrieked: "It was you! That day, you had Verity follow me on purpose! You set the whole trap and waited for me to walk into it!"

Her voice was shrill and desperate: "Father! Don't believe her! She's the real killer! She deliberately led me to go buy that gold hairpin — all so she could use it against me today!"

But Patrick paid her no mind. He simply nodded at Cressida with approval: "That's a good plan. It keeps our dignity intact and keeps us out of it."

The realization hit Rose like a bolt of lightning.

Now she understood it all.

From Verity deliberately leaking her whereabouts to make her suspicious, to her rushing out to buy the gold hairpin to prove her innocence — every single step had been part of Cressida's design.

What she thought was a careful fix had become the most damning evidence against her.

Just as she had feared — Cressida had finished with Michael, and then turned around and made her life a living hell.

They were all targets Cressida had set her sights on.

Rose's blood-smeared face twisted into something monstrous. She screamed hysterically: "Father, Michael must have been killed by Cressida too! She wants all of us dead!"

Patrick's brow furrowed. He turned to look at her.

He was about to speak when a servant came running in from the gate.

"Mr. Patrick Hamilton — the authorities are at the door."