Chapter 3

I clenched my hands until my nails bit into my palms. Calm. Breathe.

"Daddy, I didn't. I was in my room doing homework. Eleanor...she was on the balcony upstairs. She was watching him." I let my voice waver, the perfect picture of a scared little girl.

Arthur held an unconscious Leo, his bloodshot eyes fixed on me, like a wild beast about to lose control.

Eleanor immediately interjected, "I told Lily to watch Leo upstairs, then I went next door to Mrs. Harrison's to borrow a cup of sugar! Mrs. Harrison can vouch for me!"

I sneered internally. What a perfect 'golden cicada shedding its shell' trick. She had timed Arthur's return precisely, deliberately going downstairs to find a neighbor to vouch for her.

Sure enough, Mrs. Harrison, who was always close with Eleanor, immediately pushed through the crowd, chiming in with a righteous expression. "That's right, Arthur, Eleanor just got back from my place with the sugar, saying she was going to make your favorite pot roast! I saw her enter the yard myself!"

After she finished, she didn't forget to point a finger at me, adding with feigned distress, "But your daughter, Lily, when we came over, we saw her standing on the second floor, just staring coldly downstairs, without any reaction! Oh, Lily, how can your heart be so cruel? Was it you who deliberately left the gate open last time when Leo got hurt?"

Her words immediately stirred up a storm.

The surrounding neighbors immediately began to chatter, everyone talking at once.

"Exactly, that kid doesn't look like she's innocent."

"So young, and already so jealous. What will she be like later?"

Eleanor brought a perfect, trembling hand to her face and dissolved into sobs, going limp against Arthur. "Don't blame her, Arthur. Last time with the gate...it must have been an accident. Maybe this time was too..."

Every word meticulously designed to convict me.

Arthur's gaze completely hardened.

He had seen it. He had seen Eleanor rushing in from outside the yard, frantic. And me? I was just standing on the second floor, a cold, indifferent bystander.

Seeing was believing.

"Last time, I saw you pull Leo back with my own eyes, and I believed you." Arthur's voice was terribly hoarse. "Now, I saw you push him down the stairs with my own eyes! What more do you have to say for yourself!"

The trust in his eyes instantly crumbled, replaced by an unyielding disgust. "You don't have a single trace of fear on your face, Lily. Was even saving Leo last time just an act for me?"

Tears instantly welled up in my eyes, and I cried out, "It wasn't me! It was the man Eleanor brought home! The same man from last time! That's why Eleanor had time to go to Mrs. Harrison's!"

"Dad, don't you believe me?"

With all my might, I cried out. "Call the police! Let them check for fingerprints on the wheelchair, and they'll prove I’m innocent!"

Seeing Arthur's arm around Eleanor loosen slightly, I knew my words were working.

I choked back a sob, but my gaze was fixed on the unconscious Leo in his arms. "Dad, if there's really a bad person hiding in our home who would hurt Leo, what will happen to him later?"

Those words were like a needle, precisely piercing Arthur's most vulnerable spot.

Eleanor's face instantly went deathly pale. She bit her lip hard, then as if making a sudden decision, she abruptly looked up, her eyes misty with tears, at Arthur.

"That's what I should be saying to you! Our family of three was doing perfectly fine. If it weren't for a plague like you in this house, how would we never have a day of peace!"

She spoke tearfully, every word seemingly wrenched from her very soul.

"Arthur, I gave up everything to be with you, to bear your son. How could I possibly harm our own flesh and blood? I cook you delicious meals in countless ways every day, and I keep this house perfectly in order. Have you forgotten all that?"

"It doesn't matter if you misunderstand me, I'm just worried about you! I'm afraid you'll be blinded by this ungrateful wretch, this viper I've raised, and regret it later!"