She had expected this. She knew she would be the first suspect. But she didn’t panic. Having lived through the tragic fate of her past life, she was no longer afraid of their baseless accusations.
Lifting her chin, she met their gazes without fear. “Do you have any proof?”
“You damn girl! How dare you talk back to me?” Stella snapped.
Ronald, a man with a hair-trigger temper, immediately grabbed her ear and snarled, “If it wasn’t you, then was it me, this old man?”
Iris’ expression remained defiant. “You have no proof. You’re accusing me without reason!”
At that moment, Esther dramatically threw the dress onto the floor, wailing, “I know... I shouldn’t have worn such a nice dress. But Iris, if you wanted it, you could have just asked! Why did you have to ruin it out of spite?”
That single accusation nailed Iris to the pillar of shame.
Her hands clenched into fists, her voice hoarse as she repeated over and over, “It wasn’t me!”
