Chapter 25 Someong Arrives
"Do I look like some kind of idiot to you?" Anne stared at the old lady, her gaze ice-cold, staring until the woman broke out in a cold sweat. "Setting aside whether I actually did these things, even if I had, why wouldn't I choose to burn it all down and drag you all to hell with me?"
Holden trembled with rage at her words. He strode forward, his pointing finger nearly poking her nose. "Bitch! Still talking tough at a time like this!"
"I'm telling you, this is Mother's goodwill. Whether you like it or not, you have to accept it. Otherwise, you're being unfilial!"
Anne glanced at him. "You've already schemed against me like this, pinned so many false charges on me—does one more count of being unfilial really matter?"
Hearing this, Titan Old Lady felt her blood pressure spike and nearly fainted. She cursed furiously, "Look at yourself! Not a trace of a noble lady's manner, much less a wife's!"
Elisa had been trembling with anger for a while now. Unable to hold back any longer, she spoke up mockingly, "What kind of talk is that, Old Lady? Our miss has already been schemed against like this by you people—her status, her position, even her dowry you won't let go. Is leaving with nothing something to be proud of? Should she kowtow and thank you first?"
"If it were me, I'd definitely curse your whole family to have terrible luck tomorrow! Death and injury, never to rise again!"
"How dare you! You have no right to speak here!"
Holden raised his hand to slap Elisa, but Anne caught his wrist and stopped him.
Shocked, Holden tried to use more force, but felt himself pushed away by some skillful technique. He stumbled back several steps, looking at Anne in disbelief. "You!"
Anne couldn't be bothered to look at him. "My people are not yours to discipline!"
Because of Holden's height advantage, the old lady couldn't see exactly what happened when his back was to her. She only knew he was going to discipline that uppity maid but was stopped by Anne.
Elisa's words made her lungs nearly explode with rage. She stamped her foot furiously. "You're the ones scheming and trying to frame us! The Titan family never wronged Anne. If she could tolerate Candy, why did she petition His Majesty? If she didn't resent us for accepting Candy, why did she withdraw the manor's staff and cut our funding?"
"Your Virlet family is dead except for one woman, and you still want to drag us down with you? Bah! We're already showing supreme mercy by letting you live under the name of the Titan family and Holden's wife. Don't forget, Holden is the leader of the Dawn Knight Order, a hero of the southern campaign. He'll participate in future battles and earn even more military merit. By then, what's Skoda, what's Virlet—just dead people no one cares about and a family destined to fall!"
Elisa's eyes reddened at these words, because one thing she said was indeed true—there was no one else left in the Virlet family, while the Titan family's Holden still had a bright future ahead, and with Candy the female knight commander, it wasn't hard to imagine how sought-after they'd be among the nobility.
"Mother, that's enough." Holden didn't want to make things too ugly, especially involving Duke Skoda. That man was practically a leader figure in the hearts of all soldiers, an unprecedented hero of the Soth Empire. Even Holden himself greatly admired Duke Skoda.
Moreover, the way Anne had just stopped him... clearly she wasn't the weak, sheltered woman he'd imagined. If he pushed her too far, who knew what she might do.
But she knew martial arts... why had she never mentioned it to him?
Holden sighed. Right now he just wanted to minimize Anne's impact, not affect his family or his marriage to Candy. As for the rest, as long as Anne didn't cause more trouble, he could turn a blind eye. Even if she didn't want to leave the Titan family, that was fine—just don't give her any managing authority afterward.
However, Holden felt something was odd. Usually when the hall got this noisy, his uncles would have come out by now. Today there wasn't a peep from them. Even his elder brother hadn't come looking for his sister-in-law, nor sent anyone to ask what was happening.
It was as if everyone was avoiding something.
Trion had been frightened by this quarrel for a while now. Having witnessed Mephist's strange condition, she completely believed Anne's words. Now watching them argue back and forth—first trying to send Anne to a sanatorium, now wanting to seize all her dowry and kick her out—this was outright robbery!
She looked at Anne with concern. Though she hadn't been much help before, she hadn't done anything bad either. As fellow daughters-in-law in the Titan family, she and Anne could at least talk to each other.
Can someone please come save Anne, or save me! Trion silently prayed in her heart.
Anne glanced at Trion, then looked at Titan Old Lady. "If this is what your family thinks, then I'll tell His Majesty every single word, let him know that in your eyes there's only Holden, that you have no idea how to respect heroes, much less understand that there's always someone better out there!"
Titan Old Lady sneered. "Tattling! That's not up to you! I was thinking of sparing your life, but now I see there's no need. I'll have someone send you to the sanatorium right away. Tonight I'll arrange some old geezer with special tastes for you. Once you're dead, dowry or no dowry, whether you like it or not, it'll all be ours!"
"Your money is ours, and those servants and attendants you brought will all belong to us too. Our family will only grow stronger, while you and your family can rot in the mud!"
Just as tensions reached a breaking point, a panicked guard suddenly rushed in from outside. He seemed terribly frightened, stammering before speaking, "The King... His Majesty the King's royal decree has arrived!"