Chapter 120: Turbulence Arises Again
"You!"
Seeing me so brazenly tear open the bad blood between me and the Pemberton family, Yvonne was truly at a loss.
She sneered, "Helena. You've got some serious nerve for someone so young."
"Right back at you. Besides, nerve doesn't put food on the table, does it?"
I smiled and brushed my hair back, looking at Yvonne. "Yvonne, I'm sure you understand this better than I do."
Yvonne snapped furiously, "It's true what they say—birds of a feather flock together. Atlas with his sharp tongue just had to find someone as mouthy as you. Aren't you afraid his father and I will oppose your marriage?"
I turned to look at her. "Are you saying if I keep quiet and let you bully me, you won't oppose it?"
"If I'm not mistaken, no matter who Atlas brings home, you'd oppose it anyway. After all, you're not his birth mother."
"But then again, even if you want to interfere with his marriage, can you actually control it?"
Yvonne snorted coldly. "I may not be able to control him, but don't forget, he still has his father and grandfather above him. One of them will be able to stop him."
"In that case," I shrugged, "go ahead and try. It'll be a good test of Atlas's ability. If he can't even protect me before marriage, I'll have to seriously reconsider whether to keep dating him."
My response left Yvonne completely stumped. She huffed angrily and was about to continue when Amy carefully tugged at her sleeve. "Mom, stop it. Look, Atlas and Grandpa are coming."
As she finished speaking, two figures walked in from outside.
The moment he entered, I could clearly sense Atlas was in a bad mood.
But I didn't ask too many questions, just followed him to sit down at the dining table.
"Atlas, Mom specially asked the kitchen to make all your favorite dishes. You should eat more."
Amy said this while picking up some food with her utensils and placing it on Atlas's plate.
Atlas glanced at me instead. "You must be hungry. Eat more."
He then served me some food as well.
Watching Atlas's gesture, Amy clapped her hands. "Dad, Mom, look how well Atlas and Helena get along. I want to find a boyfriend who treats me as well as Atlas treats her."
"How old are you to be thinking about boyfriends already?"
Yvonne glanced at her disapprovingly. "Just eat your dinner and stop talking nonsense."
Amy stuck out her tongue and ate quietly without saying more.
The table fell silent, with only the sound of knives and forks clinking.
Honestly, I wasn't quite used to this scene. At home, there were only three of us at dinner.
But at our table, we could freely chat about the interesting things we'd seen each day. Here, though, the silence was oppressive.
Just then, the butler rushed in looking alarmed. "Mr. Lancaster, the Cichlids in the pool—I don't know what happened, but they're all dead."
"What happened?"
Wesley looked up, his gaze sharp as he stared at the butler.
The butler grew nervous under his scrutiny and quickly explained, "I don't know what happened either. I just went to check and saw all the Cichlids floating on the surface. I've already called in an expert to take a look."
Wesley put down his utensils. "Let's go see what's going on."
He stood up, and everyone else followed suit, heading outside.
Only Atlas remained seated, and not only did he not move, he served me another portion of food. "Eat. Why'd you stop?"
Seeing this, I had no choice but to pick up my utensils and continue eating.
After everyone had left the room, I finally spoke up. "Atlas, those Cichlids they mentioned—I fed them earlier."
"What?"
Atlas turned to look at me in surprise. "What do you mean? You fed them?"
I nodded. "Amy took me there earlier. At first she wanted me to feed the parrots but I refused. Then when we got to the pool, she asked me to feed the Cichlids. I couldn't refuse again, so I fed them."
"So you're a bit worried?" Atlas saw right through my thoughts.
I nodded. "Yes, I want to go take a look."
"Alright."
Atlas obediently put down his utensils and wiped his hands. "But don't worry. They're just a few fish. Even if you fed poison to the Lancaster family members themselves, it'd be fine."
"What crazy talk is that?"
I tugged at him. "Come on, let's go see."
The pool was surrounded by people, with dead Cichlids pulled from the water covering the ground.
The moment we appeared, Evan angrily shouted at Atlas, "Look at this, just look! These were your grandfather's favorites, and now they're all gone. You really are—!"
Seeing how furious he was, I knew he couldn't direct his anger at me, so he was taking it out on Atlas instead.
Atlas glanced at him coldly. "They're just a few dead fish. Is it worth making such a fuss? Don't let yourself get so worked up that your blood pressure spikes again."
"You bastard, you bastard!"
Seeing Evan so furious, Yvonne's lips curved into a smile as she tried to placate him. "Honey, why bother getting on his level? Atlas has always been good at making people angry—you know that."
Then she looked at me. "Helena, what a mess this has turned into. Amy already mentioned that when you two were out walking earlier, you fed the fish?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Amy jumped in. "Mom, how can you say it like that? You're making it sound like Helena's the culprit. She did feed the fish, yes, but I fed them too."
Amy walked over and took my hand. "Helena, don't worry. I'll definitely prove your innocence."
What a strange thing to say.
As if she'd already decided I was the one who poisoned the Cichlids.
I pulled my hand away and said directly, "You gave me the fish food. Even if there's a problem, it's between you and your family's servants. What does it have to do with me?"
Amy's body stiffened almost imperceptibly. When she looked up again, her smile was much more forced.
"Helena, I'm trying to help you. How can you question the fish food? Besides, everyone's already checked it—there's nothing wrong with the fish food."
"Then you tell me, how did these fish die?"
"Why didn't they die earlier or later, but right after I came and fed them a few pellets?"
Amy probably hadn't expected me to confront her so directly in front of everyone.
Being young and inexperienced, she panicked immediately.
She grabbed Atlas's arm and hurriedly explained, "Atlas, I don't know what happened either, but the fish are dead. Atlas, Helena's upset—did I do something wrong?"
Atlas rubbed his temples wearily and said irritably, "They're dead, so they're dead. Don't you have anything better to do?"
"Enough with the crying. You're making it seem like our family can't even afford a few fish."
Atlas patted Amy's head, then continued, "But Helena is your future sister-in-law. In the future, you should stand up for her first in situations like this, not drag her into it."
Without waiting for Amy to respond, he raised his voice toward Wesley. "Grandpa, are you done yet? If you're busy, I'm leaving. I didn't even get to enjoy my meal."
"Helena hasn't eaten enough yet. I'm taking her out to eat."