<b>Chapter </b><b>269 </b><b>You </b><b>Call </b>That an Apology


    <b>Chapter </b><b>269 </b>You Call That an Apology


    She <b>had </b>a strong hunch that the masterminds behind tonight’s setup were likely Wendy <b>and </b><b>Elea</b>. <b>The </b>mother<b>–</b>daughter pair had always been meticulous; even if the maid had reported back that Lily had taken the bait, Wendy and Elsa would still want to check for themselves, just to be absolutely sure. <b>And </b>that was the moment Lily had been waiting for.


    She’d guessed right. Before long, Wendy had quietly pushed open the lounge door.


    There was a potted nt inside the room. Lily had considered knocking Wendy out with it, but worried <b>it </b>would leave too much of a trace. So she decided to wait until Wendy stepped fully into the room and, like in the movies, struck her in the back of the neck with all her strength.


    Her first blow didn’t knock Wendy out.


    Wendy sensed something was wrong and started to turn around to see who had ambushed her, but then James walked in and knocked her out cold with a precise chop to the neck.


    James had someone bring Lily a clean evening gown.


    After dragging Wendy onto the bed, Lily used her fingerprint to unlock her phone and sent Elsa a simple “OK” text. Then she left the lounge and crossed the hall to change her clothes.


    If Wendy hadn’t meant to harm anyone, even if James had knocked her out, she could’ve made it through the night unscathed.


    But if she hade with bad intentions…


    Then whatever happened next, she brought it on herself.


    “Wendy? How could it be you?”


    Wendy alwaysplimented her looks, and Yyonne had liked her quite a bit.


    She’d also heard from a few maids that the woman in the room was Lily. It was hard to believe–the one seducing a married man turned out to be Wendy, the very woman she’d always seen as graceful and elegant.


    “Wendy, are you okay?” Mathilda, being close to Elsa, had to show concern too.


    “You don’t look so good. Do you need to go to the hospital?”


    Reese’s tastes were well–known. Wendy felt horrible all over. <i>But </i><i>right </i><i>now</i><i>, </i><i>how </i><i>could </i><i>I </i><i>even </i><i>show </i><i>her </i><i>face </i><i>at </i><i>a </i><i>hospital</i><i>? </i>


    Tonight, she hadn’t just lost her dignity–she’d lost everything.


    She didn’t even want to imagine/how all the people who once ttered and admired her would nowugh at her behind her back.


    She also realized that the one who ambushed her in the lounge was, most likely, Lily.


    Thinking about how all her careful nning had not only failed to ruin Lily but hadpletely backfired,


    she was <b>livid</b>.


    Lily did this to me. She has to pay<i>. </i>She suddenly jerked her head up, ber <b>gaze </b>sharp as des as the red of Lily


    “Lily<b>, </b>why would you do this to me? I know you’re jealous of Elsa. You’re always targeting her and you had


    our and send a man to <b>rutin </b><b>me </b>me by association. But even if you hate me, how could you knock me


    <b>“</b>What? Lily did this to you?” Yvonne turned on Lily in fury, as if ready to tear her to pieces.


    Hearing their voices, the crowd turned in unison to look at Lily.


    Lily remainedpletely calm.


    Wendy and Elsa had tried to ruin her. To avoid being caught red–handed, they’d had the maids destroy <b>the </b>surveince footage in the lounge ahead of time.


    But that worked in Lily’s favor too. With no cameras in the hallway, Wendy had no proof Lily <i>had </i>touched her. Without evidence, what was there to fear?


    “Lily, you knocked Wendy out just to humiliate her like this? How could you be so vicious?”


    Lily was about to retort–call Wendy a rabid dog biting at random–when John’s voice cut in, full of rage.


    The sleazy man hadn’t touched Lily; John had felt relieved about that.


    But he still couldn’t ept that Lily had done something so cruel to Elsa’s mother.


    “Lily, how could you humiliate Wendy like this? Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Simon demanded, his face dark.


    “You idiot! Are you stupid or what? Shut the heck up!”


    Mary could see the truth clearly; Wendy had brought this on herself.


    Seeing her dumb son rushing to defend Wendy without even figuring out what was going on made her furious.


    She gave him a disgusted kick, then snapped, “Lily is your cousin–inw. If you yell at her one more time, I swear I’ll have your father break your legs!”


    “I…”


    Simon was afraid of getting beaten, but when he saw tears brimming in Elsa’s eyes, he couldn’t stand seeing her hurt. “Mom, Lily hurt Wendy so badly–how can you still take her side? You….”


    “Simon, which damn eye of yours saw Lily hurt that filthy woman?”


    James‘ cold voice cut Simon off. Before he could respond, James continued in an icy tone, “I actually have proof. Wendy and Reese were colluding to destroy <i>Lily</i>. When Lily didn’t fall for it, Wendy offered herself up to Reese to keep him happy.”


    “What did you just say?”


    Simon’s dark eyes filled with disbelief.


    He had always respected Wendy and didn’t want to believe she would ever team up with some sleazy old man to destroy Lily’s reputation.


    But at the same time, no one he respected more than James. To him, James‘ word wasw.


    For a moment, he didn’t even know how to respond.