"Tell me, did you drug William? It's bad enough you drugged him and had sex with him, but you made sure everyone knew about it?"
The cane struck her back heavily, jolting Christina awake.
She opened her eyes, and the familiar surroundings made her pupils contract.
The Cavendish Mansion's living room?
Hadn't she died in the house she lived in with William after their marriage?
The memory of the explosion tearing her body apart, the searing pain of the flames, was still vivid. Why was she here?
Before she could react, mocking and sarcastic voices around her started up one after another.
"If it wasn't her, who else could it be? She finally transformed from a Cinderella to a socialite, lived a few years of a worry-free life, and couldn't bear to go back to her old poor days. Naturally, she had to find a powerful man to cling to before being kicked out! She even wrote a novel about unrequited love based on herself. What decent girl doesn't focus on studying but only thinks about men?"
"Like mother, like daughter. After all, she's not one of us Cavendish family members; she's different from our children."
"Her seduction tactics are just like her mother's. No wonder they're mother and daughter. If you ask me, Elisa Stewart, you might as well start a training class. I'm sure many people like you and your daughter, who dream of rising to the top, would pay to learn from you."
The mentioned Elisa was Christina's mother.
At this moment, she didn't even dare to sit but knelt beside Christina, head lowered, face pale, lips bitten until they bled, not daring to say a word.
Because in this house, they had no right to speak!
Christina blinked, looking at the disdainful and disgusted faces around her, at her mother's enduring and humiliated appearance, feeling a bit dazed.
This seemed to be the time when William was drugged, accidentally had sex with her, and the incident was exposed, leading to the Cavendish family interrogating her!
Thinking of this, Christina quickly glanced at the central position.
Sure enough, there sat the grim-faced Nicholas Cavendish and the cold, unapproachable William.
In an instant, Christina's heart felt like it was thrown into a boiling pot.
She had been reborn!
She had actually been reborn!
Reborn to the time when she had sex with William and was being interrogated!
In her previous life, facing the Cavendish family's tough stance and her own secret, unspoken fantasies about William, she admitted that the person who had sex with William was indeed her.
As a result, the Cavendish family was furious. Nicholas punished her by making her kneel on the gravel path in the Cavendish family garden for three days until she fainted from the rain and was found to be pregnant. The Cavendish family had no choice but to let William marry her.
From then on, Christina's position in the Cavendish family became even more awkward.
She was already a burden brought into the Cavendish family by her mother's remarriage, and she had a nominal uncle-niece relationship with William.
A niece having sex with her uncle, regardless of whether they were blood-related, was enough to bring shame and ridicule to the Cavendish family!
As expected, after the incident was exposed, Christina became the city's notorious woman who would stop at nothing to marry into a wealthy family, even scheming against her own uncle!
In her previous life, bearing such infamy, feeling guilty towards William and Jennifer, she was submissive to William after their marriage, hoping to win his heart with her sincerity.
But the outcome was her daughter dying tragically for William and Jennifer's illegitimate child, and she perished in an explosion after setting the villa on fire!
In this new life, she would no longer foolishly hold any expectations for William.
Closing her eyes and opening them again, Christina's eyes were clear.
However, her silence completely ignited Nicholas's anger.
Bang!
Nicholas slammed the cup in his hand on the table. "Christina, you may not be a Cavendish family child, but the Cavendish family has put a lot of effort into raising you. If you make a mistake, you must bear the consequences. Don't you understand this basic principle?"
In her previous life, Nicholas had also hinted that she should take responsibility.
She thought it was her chance, foolishly admitted and apologized, and was scorned by everyone.
In this life, she saw the calculation in Nicholas's eyes.
He hated Elisa, the third son of the prestigious Cavendish family, for marrying a divorced woman with a daughter.
He hated Christina even more, a burden who dared to covet his most outstanding son!
But the "uncle-niece incest" scandal pushed the Cavendish family into the spotlight, and someone had to take the blame.
And Christina was the one Nicholas pushed out to be scorned!
Elisa, frightened by Nicholas's attitude, hurriedly pushed the kneeling Christina beside her.
"Christina, apologize quickly!"
Christina was pushed and almost fell.
Her gaze inadvertently met William's.
William's eyes were cold, looking at her as if she were an ant he could easily crush.
Beside him sat Jennifer, her eyes red and swollen, clearly having just cried.
Meeting Christina's gaze, a trace of venom flashed in Jennifer's eyes.
Christina suddenly realized that it was Jennifer who had drugged William.
Jennifer, of low birth, couldn't win the Cavendish family's approval for her engagement to William despite his sudden announcement of their relationship. She was still disliked by the Cavendish family.
Seeing William at the age to settle down, the Cavendish family was still reluctant to let her marry him, and she panicked.
So she wanted to have sex with William first, hoping to secure her position with a child.
Who knew Christina would unexpectedly intervene.
Christina closed her eyes. Did William know about this?
Whether he knew or not didn't matter anymore.
In this life, she would never have any entanglement with William again!
With this thought, Christina stood up, supporting herself with her hands. "I won't apologize. I did nothing wrong, so why should I apologize?"
Her firm tone left everyone in the living room stunned, then they sneered.
"The paparazzi caught you, and you're still denying it!"
"She's waiting for public pressure to force the Cavendish family to make William marry her!"
"People who do bad things and don't want to be ridiculed and insulted are just like her. I wonder how her mother raised her!"
Hearing this, Elisa's face turned pale, and she almost collapsed.
She slapped Christina's back and twisted her arm. "What nonsense are you talking about? Apologize to your grandfather and the others, apologize quickly!"
Elisa was genuinely afraid, afraid of being kicked out of the Cavendish family, afraid her husband would have a hard time in the Cavendish family. She just wanted Christina to admit her mistake and get this over with.
But she didn't know that once Christina apologized, this matter would never be over.
Christina, in pain, turned pale but looked fearlessly at Nicholas and William. "Do you have evidence that I drugged him, or did you see me in bed with my uncle? If you didn't see it, why do you assume it was me? Just because of a few highly blurred photos taken by the paparazzi? Or did my uncle personally admit that the person that night was me?"
William would never admit it!
He cared so much about Jennifer and despised Christina. How could he admit to having any relationship with her?
So, as long as she denied it, the Cavendish family couldn't pin this on her!
Hearing her confident defense, Nicholas frowned and turned to look at William.
William's face was expressionless, but his aura was chillingly cold.
He lightly turned the jade ring on his thumb, his gaze so cold it seemed to freeze her.
The fear that seeped from her bones and the hatred etched in her blood made Christina almost unable to withstand his gaze.
She feared she might lose control and reveal her inner emotions.
"Oh, now you know to avoid suspicion and call him uncle?" someone sneered, looking at Christina with ridicule.
After all, she had never called William uncle in all her years in the Cavendish family!
Previously, it was thought Christina was just rude, but now it seemed she had been scheming all along.
Christina lowered her eyelashes. "Whether I call him uncle or not, he is still my uncle. Our identities will never change!"
William's movement of turning the ring paused, and his fingers suddenly clenched!
His sharp, icy gaze seemed to pierce through Christina.
Christina remained calm and composed, facing William's immense pressure without flinching.
"You say it wasn't you, but what evidence do you have?"