?Chapter 515:


    Katie shook her head, her voice barely steady as she stammered, “It wasn’t—”


    Brendon stepped in smoothly. “Mr. Reed, I think someone’s trying to create conflict between our families. This isn’t Katie’s fault.”


    “Not her fault?” Grant let out a derisive smirk. “Wasn’t she the one who caused the trouble in the first ce?”


    “If it had been payback against only Katie, your daughter’s alias and profile photo in the video would have been blurred for privacy. The whole situation doesn’t add up,” Brendon countered, his tone steady.


    Joselyn jumped on the point. “Exactly! Your daughter must have offended someone, too.”


    “That’s ridiculous! I hadn’t even attended school during that time. How could I have possibly offended someone?” Thea’s voice shot up, nerves getting the best of her. She’d already caught an earful from her father beforeing here, and if thisnded on her, she’d be in even deeper trouble.


    Brendon’s voice remained calm. “And how can you be so sure the offense happened during that time? Maybe this has been brewing for a while, and whoever’s behind it finally saw a chance to make their move.”


    Thea fell silent and nced over at her parents, uncertainty written all over her face. Could it really be that she and Katie had offended the same person? But who could they have both offended?


    Seizing the opportunity, Katie suddenly blurted out, her voice dripping with spite, “It has to be Christina! She must be the one behind all of this!”


    Whether Christina was involved or not didn’t matter to Katie—she was set on turning Christina into the scapegoat.


    Brendon’s disapproval was obvious as he shot Katie a warning look. “Katie…”


    “Brendon, after everything that happened with Grandma, you’re still going to…”


    “Defend Christina? You might want to let her slide, but she’s been targeting us nonstop!” Katie snapped back at him, frustration boiling over.


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    Resentment burned in Katie’s eyes. At this point, her only goal was to turn the Reed family entirely against Christina. If she seeded, the entire Reed family would turn on Christina and do whatever it took to eliminate her.


    Brendon said nothing, his thoughts drifting to Christina’s cold demeanor toward him in the hospital room. His brows furrowed tightly as he clenched his fists but then slowly rxed, deciding not to defend Christina anymore. By making her suffer a bit, he figured it would sting her, and perhaps only then would she finally realize how good the Dawson family had been to her. And when Christina hit her lowest point, he would step in to help her—a move he assumed would make her love him more.


    A faint, satisfied smile yed on Brendon’s lips as he made up his mind not to defend Christina anymore.


    Thea stepped forward and seized Katie’s arm tightly. “So it really is your ex-sister-inw stirring up all this chaos?”


    “Ouch! You’re hurting me!” Katie winced, pulling her arm back. “That witch! Just the thought of her once being my sister-inw makes me sick. She’s such a vile woman. She must have been holding a grudge against the two of us ever since Freddie’s birthday celebration, and now she’s just using this chance to finally get her revenge.”


    Gripping Thea’s hand, Katie pressed her point. “Think about it. If I were the only one on her bad side, she could have leaked only what I said and hidden your information. But she didn’t—she wants both of us to pay.”


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