Chapter 355 Arabella Protects
"What kind of dumb stuff did you get up to when you were young? Seriously, don't you have a clue?"
Arabella lounged in the wicker chair, lazily fanning herself.
The fan was decorated with wisteria, a pretty sight, but to Lila, it was terrifying!
She recognized it right away.
That fan had belonged to Elodie when she was young!
"Arabella! How could you be so heartless? You hate Elodie, yet you keep something she used?"
Arabella replied coolly, "Why wouldn't I use something she gave me? I'm not the one with a guilty conscience."
Lila was about to lose it, both physically and mentally!
"Let me go! Marcus won't let you treat me like this. I'm his wife. Who gave you the right to abuse me?"
Arabella sat up straight, casually waving the fan in her hand.
Her face was full of mockery!
"Abuse you? Think about how you treated Juniper! When she was five, you poisoned her food, trying to kill her so your granddaughter could be the Windsor family's child!"
"When Juniper was in elementary school, you made her stay at school, not letting her come home!"
"She was so young, yet you made her cook and do laundry. Didn't the Windsor family have maids for that?"
At first, Samuel and Grace didn't want to help with the kids either.
They both had their own careers, and with so many Windsor children, they thought having a maid was enough.
It was Philip who went to see Juniper and came back crying to Samuel, saying Juniper was dying!
Lila took advantage of Aurora's postpartum recovery, claiming she was helping with the kids.
In reality, she had secretly instructed the maid to give Juniper only water!
Samuel was so shocked that he skipped a literary award ceremony that night to pick up Juniper.
By the time he got there, Juniper was nothing but skin and bones.
If it weren't for Samuel and Grace, Juniper would have been killed by Lila!
Arabella was so furious that her heart felt as though it were going to break!
Lila was stunned that Arabella had investigated everything so thoroughly, leaving her speechless.
"I... I did it for her own good..."
"Don't worry, I won't do anything to you. Since you were 'good' to Juniper, I'll treat you the same way."
"Remember how you used to make Juniper stand in the yard under the sun, peeling her skin off?"
Arabella looked at Lila's sunburned face.
She was seething with anger!
This Lila had done so many despicable things over the years!
"She turned out fine... I was just toughening her up. She's so accomplished now because of my good upbringing! You should thank me!"
Faced with Lila's shameless justification, Arabella just let out a cold laugh.
"Don't worry, I'll be sure to thank you properly! Juniper's last name is none of your business!"
Arabella rolled her eyes.
"Just looking at you makes me sick. If you hadn't stolen someone else's child, would Marcus have married you?"
Lila was furious!
"You're lying! Marcus loves me! You think you got into the Howard family just 'cause you look like Elodie? Felix only saw you as a stand-in!"
Arabella stood up, walked over to Lila, and slapped her hard.
The slap left Lila dazed, feeling even weaker.
"You really buy into everything Franklin says? How naive."
As the sky darkened, Arabella spoke slowly.
"Marcus is taking the kids to pay respects to Elodie. Until they leave, you're staying right here in the sun. Whatever torment you inflicted on Juniper and her mom, I'm gonna return the favor."
Hearing that Elodie was buried in the Windsor family cemetery, Lila was completely shattered.
"No! Why? Why does she get to be in the Windsor family cemetery? It's not fair!"
Her cries grew weaker under Arabella's relentless slaps.
Every time Lila was about to faint from the heat, Arabella would splash her with cold water to wake her up.
Marcus couldn't deal with Lila, but Arabella sure could.
"Arabella! Don't you hate Elodie? Your husband spent his life thinking about another woman. Doesn't that infuriate you?"
Lila couldn't wrap her head around it.
Shouldn't Arabella be on her side?
Why was she staying out of it?
Arabella lifted her chin, full of pride. "I refuse to stoop to that level. If my husband thinks of another woman, that's my failure, not Elodie's fault."
"Blaming others for your own failures is something only trash like you would do."
Watching from a distance, Catherine turned to Venus.
"Make sure Mrs. Howard doesn't tire herself out. Send some people to bring her food."
"Yes, Ms. Windsor. Our company's male model team... I mean, the senior care team knows Mrs. Howard's preferences well! Don't worry, we'll take good care of her."
Catherine was speechless for a moment.
She glanced at Lila, who was on the ground, crying bitterly.
She was in pain, but there wasn't a hint of remorse.
People like Lila only felt that life was unfair, driven by greed for wealth and status, and fear of death.
At Elodie's grave.
The sun blazed down, the cemetery was peaceful, and the headstone had been re-engraved with Catherine's name.
A long list of Windsor family children's names followed, even Juniper's, but not Marcus's.
Brad explained, "Ms. Catherine Windsor, Mr. Marcus Windsor didn't want Mrs. Elodie Windsor to be upset. He figured she'd be happy to stay here for the kids' sake, especially you."
Marcus was afraid that if his name were on Elodie's headstone, she wouldn't be pleased.
Timothy's video call came through.
"Catherine, today... is your grandmother's anniversary, right?"
Catherine turned the camera to Elodie's headstone, speaking softly, "Take a look."
On the headstone, Elodie's smile remained gentle and serene, full of strength and radiance.
Timothy looked for a moment, sniffed, hiding his sadness.
Instead, he comforted Catherine.
"It's okay, Catherine, don't be sad. Elodie's gone, but you're still here. You're the child she raised, her legacy in this world."
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