"Auntie... !" Ellena was so offended when she realized Lady Preston suddenly blamed everything on her and tossed her away after Mars openly accused her of the queen's attack. "I am innocent... why are you doing this to me?"
She got up and touched Lady Preston's arm, but the older lady immediately brushed off her hand like she was a plague. "Don't touch me with your filthy hands...!"
"Auntie...!"
"Stop calling me auntie. I don't have a niece like you...!"
Ellena was astonished. She turned to Duke Preston who suddenly looked twenty years older. She reached out to the man and spoke with a hoarse voice. "Father... why did you let her do this to me?"
Duke Preston looked away. He looked up and said to Mars apologetically, "I am sorry I have taken in and raised my wife's niece only for her to backstab your family. I really have no idea..."
Mars scoffed. He knew Duke Preston thought the same way as his wife and decided to cut Ellena loose before she brought destruction to their home.
However, he was not in the mood to argue. He just wanted to expose Ellena's crimes before everyone else and clear Emmelyn's name. He planned to deal with the Prestons later.
"You see, Ellena... my mother has openly stated that you were the one who stabbed her with the knife and you dared to blame everything on Emmelyn Rosehill, my wife. I have investigated your crimes and found the people you paid to help you."
He raised his hand and made a sign to the king's guard commander. The burly man nodded and went out of the ballroom. He came back with two knights dragging two people in.
Ellena looked up to see who the people Mars was referring to. Her eyes widened even more and suddenly she couldn't breathe.
One of them was a thug that she paid to kidnap Emmelyn from the tavern when she went to check Killian's so-called son. This man came to her three days later, all injured, and demanded her to pay him more money so he could leave the capital.
The other person was the village witch she bought the sleeping potion from. She also asked the witch to make the potion to induce early labor on Emmelyn.
How... how did Mars find them?? She didn't kill the witch because she thought nobody would connect her to the witch, and she thought the thug had left the capital months ago.
Why were they here?
"Tell us how do you know Ellena Greystorm?" Mars crossed his arms on his chest and asked the thug. His voice was icy and people could see he was holding back so hard not to take out his sword and killed those people.
"Please forgive me, Your Majesty..." The thug immediately dropped his body to the floor and cried pitifully. "I didn't mean to hurt your wife. I was desperately in need of money... So, when Roshan told us we can get a lot of money by holding your wife captive for several hours, we took the offer."
"Why did you need to hold my wife captive for several hours?" Mars asked again.
"Well.. I was not sure back then, Your Majesty.. but after I heard the news about the queen's attack, I realized, my friends and I were assigned to keep your wife away from your home while the queen was being attacked so your wife would be accused of the crime... I heard that... that... all evidence was pointing at her."
"Who paid you to do the job? Is the person here tonight?" Mars narrowed his eyes dangerously as he was investigating the thug.
The thug shook his head. "He is not here... but.. I know who he works for. He said the money is given by Lady Ellena Greystorm, Duke Preston's niece."
"THAT IS A LIE! I don't know who he is!!" Ellena wailed. She got up and strode toward the thug. "How dare you accuse me of a crime I didn't commit!! You filthy thug...!"
Before she could raise her hand to punch the man, Mars grabbed her wrist and pushed her aside. "Ellena, stop it! He confirmed that he was paid by your butler. The man who just recently died of an unknown cause. Don't you dare claim innocence! The butler's wife already talked to me and she said you gave her husband a lot of money to pay so many people to do your order."
"Noo.. no.. please, why do you trust those lowly people, and not me, your own friend?" Ellena looked at Mars deeply and continued her cries. "We grew up together. You have known me for over twenty years... I would NEVER hurt you. They just don't like the fact that we are close and try to smear my name and make you hate me..."
"To be honest, I don't think I really know you, Ellena," Mars said coldly. "You are the evilest person I have ever known in my life, and I have met Thessalis the evil witch. What she did was pale in comparison to what you have done to my family. At least she did her crime because she loved her goddaughter. As for you.... you don't love anyone."
"No.. you are wrong. I love you. I would do anything to make you happy. I went to see the witch and begged her to break your curse so you can live like a normal man, so you can get married and have children... I sacrificed five years of my life for you, because I love you, and because you asked me to marry you," Ellena wailed.
She continued, "When I returned and found out you chose to be with another woman... I let you go and conceded... even though I love you so much. I wanted to see you happy, so I left. Even though you have broken your promise to me, to make me your wife, I forgive you. I just wanted you to be happy... That's how much I love you."
Ellena cried bitterly, "Why can't you appreciate what I did for you, and now you blame me for everything that doesn't work in your life to the point that you want to frame me with their false confession...? Mars Strongmoor... are you even human??"
Mars knew some people slowly showed sympathy for Ellena, thinking she was a victim too. Ohh.. she was so good with her words.
His sharp ears could hear some people whispering among each other how Lady Ellena was so pitiful. She did so much for a man who didn't love her back, and now she was being rid of because the king wanted her gone?
"Cut the nonsense, Ellena. You might be able to deceive yourself that you are doing things out of love. You don't know what love is. You are so heartless to hurt me by trying to kill my beloved mother and blame it on my wife. You are so heartless that you wanted to kill her and the baby in her womb by forcing early labor during the hardest time of her life..."
Mars grab the village witchs' arm and pushed her forward. "This village witch confessed to me how you purchase the potions from her and paid her a lot of money. You cannot deny this one."
He continued. "And by the way, do you know what Thessalis Morelli told me before she died? She said you are so dumb to think that she lifted her curse for your sake. She didn't do such a thing. You killed my mother for nothing."
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Yes, finally all Ellena's crimes are exposed one by one. I agree with you that she should wait for her punishment to be carried out after Emmelyn returned home. In the meantime, she could just enjoy the good life in the Grey Tower.
PS: Thank you so much Harriet Moskowitz for gifting this book a dragon earlier today. Wow...!! Your generosity never ceases to amaze me. Also, thank you Bubbles, Sunset Lubin and Mamabird for sooo many gifts today. xx