Edith trotted to her daughters hurriedly and stopped right between, her eyes darting sternly between
the two of them silently.
"Okay! The two of you need to sit down and work things out! Sit down, now! I am not allowing any of
you to leave this house until we get to the bottom of this!"
She had just gotten the whole story and was shocked to find the truth of what was happening between
her daughters. Her expression clearly stated that she had realized she had been a bad mother and that
none of them had bothered to talk to her about it.
Cloris had had a problem with Cassandra ever since she came back from abroad, and Edith used to
think Cloris hated Cassandra because of her relationship with Rufus, but only now did she understand
the case. She had never imagined that the sisters had gotten into such a mess.
Cloris sighed, giving a disgruntled, sharp look in Cassandra's direction.
"Mother, I have nothing to say. It happened so long ago and I had no evidence whatsoever. It's not like
she would simply admit it," she said with an impatient snort. One could sense how she just wanted to
get this over with.
Seeing the halfhearted look on Cloris's face, Edith glowered at her.
"I said sit down! Don't you dare leave!" she spoke in a low voice through her teeth.
Edith seldom talked to Cloris in this way, so the shock was evident on her face. Reluctantly, Cloris sat
down on the sofa.
"Cassandra, sit down. You too, Rufus, but don't say anything. This is strictly a family matter, and I want
both my daughters to give me an explanation for this mess!"
Edith wore a tough look. Frankly, she couldn't believe she didn't try to figure out the reason for the
tension between them earlier.
Under their mother's strict order, Cassandra and Cloris sat down, but as far away from each other as
possible. Edith sat in the middle. She looked from one to the other, her eyebrows pressed together.
"Cloris, you go first! Tell me what exactly happened that night, spare no detail."
She decided to listen to Cloris's side of the story first.
Cloris hesitated for a while and cast a glance at Rufus. What she was about to say required courage
and could cause a glitch in her reputation. She couldn't utter a single word in his presence.
Rufus immediately got what was on her mind.
"I'm gonna go for a smoke," he said, trying to sound casual.
He then left the room without any hesitation.
Cloris told them what had happened that night from the beginning to the end, occasionally glaring at
Cassandra furiously. Although, it had been a while since it happened, she still felt terrified at its
memory.
"I know it was her after what he said, even though he didn't say a lot,"
Cloris said resentfully with her eyes fixed on Cassandra, as if she could swallow her alive.
"Did you see him again later?" Cassandra asked.
She was lost deeply in thoughts, wondering why Arthur was involved here at all. It wasn't as easy as
Cloris thought.
"He was taken away by the police. Why would I take the trouble and see him again?"
Cloris blurted out as if it was the stupidest question Cassandra could have asked.
"If you called the police, you would have had to go to the police station to give your statement as a
victim. Isn't that common sense?" Cassandra explained.
A new thought struck her like a silver dagger. She let out a sneer. The whole matter was suddenly as
clear to her as water. This had to be another scheme made by Arthur. But why did he keep plotting
against her again and again?
Cloris was dumbstruck. She felt like she had missed out on an important detail, but she remembered
the rest of it clearly.
"Maybe... because the captain knew Arthur and wanted to protect me, he refused to take me to the
station..." Cloris said rightfully, defending Arthur.
She was afraid something would get him in trouble and ruin his reputation in front of Edith.
It seemed like Cloris and Cassandra were about to start fighting again. To control the situation, Edith
banged the table loudly.
"If he really was taken away by the police, there might be a record. I have an acquaintance at the
police station too, and I can ask him to look into it. But Cloris, what were you thinking when you
decided not to tell me about this? I'm your mother and it's my duty to look after you and protect you.
You made a terrible mistake, my dear!"
Edith looked at Cloris with tender affection, thinking about how she herself had been a bad mother to
them. Her own daughter didn't come to her for help even when she was at the verge of being raped.
"Do you really think it would've made a difference had I told you? Truth of the matter is that she also is
your daughter and I didn't have any evidence to prove I was right," Cloris argued.
She talked bitterly. The resentment she had carried within herself could be heard clearly in her tone.
"Then, if you were simply suspicious and weren't sure, how could you hate your sister? Do you even
know about the effort she made to take hold of the entire company by herself when you went to study
abroad? She had to scrimp and save to pay your bills. She even sold her car. She did all that so you
could live your life and afford your tuition and living expenses. She was behind all of that!"
Edith spoke earnestly, patting the table gently as she tried to make a point. Cloris was spoiled since her
childhood days but it surprised her that she still couldn't distinguish between good and bad.
"Think about your classmates. Most of the students from middle-class families were working to support
themselves and then take a look at your own hands!"
She grabbed one of Cloris's hands while she spoke. Her fingers were long and thin. They looked
delicate and bore no callouses.
"Do you recall doing any menial work with your own hands? All you cared about was getting
manicures! Did you ever give a thought about who is providing you with these privileges and a life of
luxury? It was your father before and it's your sister now."
Edith's voice started to shake at this point. She recalled the things Cassandra had been through these
past months and continued going through even now. It broke her heart to learn how much Cloris hated
Cassandra despite the sacrifices she had made for her.
Both of them were equal to Edith now, even though she had been partial in the past. She loved and
cherished them equally, especially now after learning the reason of the dispute between them. Until
now, she had simply been regretting sending Cassandra to a small town at such a young age.
Cassandra too was supposed to grow up in her parents' care like a little princess the way Cloris had,
without a care of the world. But it was due to the disputes between Cloris and her that she was sent
away by her own parents resolutely and left to grow up all alone in a small town. That was the reason
she evolved into an introverted person when she finally came back. She wasn't as lively and cheerful
as other girls, who had had a comfortable and loving childhood.
"Cloris, you've been willful since you were a baby. It's Cassandra who has been endlessly making
concessions for you. Your father and I indulged your tantrums all the time. But has it ever occurred to
you that that's only because we are your family? Nobody else will tolerate that and be all nice and rosy
to you. I know you and Arthur have already broken up once. If he really cared about you, why would he
break up with you? Have you ever given a thought to that?"
Edith had just learned about their breakup a few days ago. She hadn't paid much attention to it at the
time although she did feel unpleasant about it. But things were different now. After hearing what Cloris
had said about that night, she suspected Arthur was simply using her.
She was certain Cassandra would never hire anyone to hurt her sister. She knew her elder daughter
well enough, but Arthur, not long enough. It was hard to understand a man, especially a businessman.
She wasn't sure whether he was cheating on them or not.
"Arthur would never do that to me, Mother!" Cloris shouted.
She was actually touched by her mother's words but she refused to suspect her boyfriend.
She had always had a freehand with money. She bought whatever she liked in the blink of an eye,
regardless of the cost, but she never thought of where the money was coming from.
She stole a quick glance at her sister, who was as frail as herself. Her face turned red when she
thought that all the money she had wasted was earned by Cassandra. It was as if something gnawed
at her heart.
Still, she absolutely disagreed with her mother regarding the things she had said about Arthur.
Arthur was always so nice to her. He bought everything she wanted, he was sweet and a gentleman of
scholarly bearing. He would never do such despicable things.
"Okay, Cloris, let's stop here with you. Cassandra, talk about your problem,"
Edith patted on the table again and instructed Cassandra to start. But Cassandra found it hard to say
anything and hesitated.
"Well? What are you waiting for, Cassandra? Tell me what you're thinking now. Hurry up! Edith urged.
She was annoyed now. Neither of her daughters seemed interested to make her worries go away. But
they had gone too far now, and they all needed this heart-to-heart session.
But Cassandra felt like a drop of water spattered onto a pan full of boiling oil.
She had just learned why her little sister hated her so much and was still shocked to find she had been
framed the entire time. This feeling was terrible.
It was possible that Arthur had plotted all of this.
Cassandra felt uneasy and restless, like there was a ticking time bomb that could explode any time.
Without a doubt, it was Arthur who had incited Cloris to steal her flash disk. Cloris was tricky but could
never make such a seamless plan, let alone carry it into action.
It was impossible for her to have come up with such a master plan on her own. The plan had been neat
and foolproof. Only one truth remained.
It was Arthur who planned all this. They broke up when Cloris couldn't help him last time but he came
back to her now just so he could frame Cassandra. He didn't love her and he was simply playing her
like a chess piece.
It annoyed Cassandra that he had set her up using her own sister, more than once!
She felt her heart sinking but she didn't know how to provide an explanation to her mother as Edith
waited for one, scanning her face for answers.
She couldn't tell her mother that Lionel misunderstood her because Cloris had stolen her disk. She
couldn't tell her he accused her furiously with his finger pointed at her nose. She couldn't tell her that
she was helping Horace after that embarrassing divorce with his son.
Her mother would probably think of her as a nut if she found out any of these.
Cassandra couldn't explain why she would still help the Tang family while she paid negligible attention
to the dispute between herself and Cloris. What if her mother didn't understand?
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