Chapter 6

"Yes, I was in jail before." Laurelle's gaze swept over the room and finally landed on Bianca. Bianca tried to yank Laurelle's hand while pleading, "Laurelle, don't be silly. I've already made it clear that I hadn't thought before I spoke. That was complete nonsense." Laurelle flinched and yanked her arm out of Bianca's grasp, unwilling to let Bianca touch her. Unexpectedly, Bianca slipped on her gown and collapsed onto the floor. She'd taken a hard fall. The floor was littered with shards of glass from the shattered wine glass that hadn't been cleaned up in time. Maverick immediately broke through the crowd and helped Bianca up. Her palm was a bloody mess. Many glass pieces had pierced through her skin. Maverick's eyes flashed with fury. His eyes burned a hole through Laurelle with how vicious his glare was. "Laurelle, you haven't learned from your mistakes. I've warned you…" Laurelle felt her heart seize. Although she knew Maverick didn't like her, seeing him take another woman's side still troubled her. "What exactly did I do? I just tried to pull my hand out of her grip. She fell to the floor on her own." Looking at Maverick and Bianca's entwined fingers, Laurelle felt as though she was the butt of a joke. She avoided Maverick's eyes in favor of looking at the ground, caressing a spot above her chest. Under her dress was an emerald pendant that someone had gifted her. She'd survived many breakdowns in jail by relying on it for emotional support. When she raised her eyes, her gaze was cold. Laurelle smirked and continued, "Yes, I was sent to jail. However, I was framed." Leona grimaced upon hearing Laurelle admit to having been sent to such a filthy place. Initially, she'd suspected that Bianca had let it slip on purpose. However, when Bianca apologized to Laurelle in public and did her best to patch things up, Leona felt like it might've actually been a slip of tongue. After all, she'd watched Bianca grow up. How could Bianca harbor such malicious schemes? Leona didn't want things to evolve into a scandal. She intended to hush things up. "Laurelle, you're drunk too, aren't you? I'll ask the maids to help you upstairs and help you get a little more sober." Laurelle continued as though she hadn't heard what Leona had said. "I would've had a million ways to ensure Bianca had disappeared forever three years ago if I'd abducted her. Why would I leave clues for you lot to find her?" Her father, William Fletcher, had emerged from his study a while ago. When he heard Laurelle's words, he slapped her across her face. Then, he scolded her. "Laurelle, what nonsense are you going on about? Shut the hell up!" Laurelle's cheek stung. However, she paid no attention to it. "Bianca only suffered superficial wounds back then. If they had really intended to rape her, they would've done so the second they'd gotten her into the car. Why would they waste their efforts on taking her to the abandoned factory? Don't you think that was unnecessary?" The audience hadn't expected that. Their eyes widened in surprise. Had Bianca nearly gotten raped by a bunch of gangsters? Judgemental eyes turned toward Bianca. This was a taboo topic in the Fletcher family. It had been three years, but no one had dared to talk about it until now. Yet, not only had Laurelle mentioned it, but she'd even done so in front of a crowd. Wouldn't that make the Fletchers the laughingstock of the town? One of their daughters had been jailed and the other had nearly been raped, not to mention that this was all a result of the conflict between the sisters! How horrifically embarrassing! Bianca had tears streaming down her face. She looked at the ground while her shoulders trembled. Fat teardrops splattered onto the floor. Laurelle chuckled coldly. Was Bianca unable to withstand even this? This was nothing compared to what she had gone through! Leona glared at Laurelle and signaled for her to shut up immediately. They had already decided on how to handle this issue three years ago. Leona and William had turned a blind eye when Laurelle had been jailed because they'd thought her morals had been beyond saving when she'd refused to confess to her crimes. Leona had also considered whether their punishment had been overly severe. After all, Laurelle was still part of the Fletcher family. However, Bianca had insisted that Laurelle's identity as one of the Fletchers meant that people wouldn't dare to do anything to her. She'd said that they wouldn't use this opportunity to teach Laurelle a lesson, her life would only go downhill from there. When Leona thought about it, she found Bianca's reasoning sound. After all, Laurelle had been raised by Patricia. And what kind of woman was Patricia? She'd raised her son to be unemployed, left with a raging gambling addiction. Thus, Leona had figured it had been time for Laurelle to learn her manners after growing up in such an environment. "Laurelle, why are you bringing this up out of the blue?" Leona's face was contorted with anger and dissatisfaction as she scolded. "Can't you see that Bianca's crying?" Laurelle smirked mockingly. "Yes. I went to jail because of her, but she's the one crying."