Chapter 11

"Oh?" Liliana let out a soft chuckle. "So what, I hit the wrong guy?" Marsha sighed dramatically. "He had it coming, sure. But you went way too far. What if Ethan ends up with some serious injury? What's he supposed to do for the rest of his life?" That got some of the bystanders thinking. People started muttering in support of Ethan. The couple from the Brooks family straightened up, way more confident now, nothing like the apologetic posture they had before. "Exactly! Sure, our Ethan might've crossed a line—but Liliana was way too brutal! Did you guys see how badly our Ethan got beaten up?" Mrs. Brooks burst into tears, crying like her family were the real victims here. Her outrage got some others riled up too. More people began pointing fingers at Liliana, calling her violent and cruel. "Honestly, Mrs. Brooks, I agree. Liliana went overboard. On her behalf, I apologize," Marsha spoke up, looking all dignified. "Liliana does have some... aggressive tendencies. Sometimes she really can't control herself. I hope you'll understand." With just a few words, she flipped the whole story upside down—painting Liliana, the one who defended herself, as some sort of loose cannon. "I knew there was something off," someone whispered. "When she opened the door earlier... she looked terrifying. Like someone ready to snap." "Yeah, I noticed it too at the lakeside. She had that scary vibe, like she was about to attack someone. Gave me chills." "Better to keep some distance from her. Who knows when she'll blow up again?" Those whispers weren't loud, but in that quiet space, every word hit like a slap. "She's really kind-hearted, she doesn't mean to hurt anyone," Marsha quickly jumped in, pretending to defend her. "She didn't grow up with us, so she missed out on love and care... It's not her fault she turned out a bit... unstable. Don't blame her too much, okay?" Now Liliana was magically turned into some ticking time bomb, while Marsha stood glowing like a gentle saint. Throwing her under the bus and then pretending to pull her back up—typical. Liliana couldn't help but laugh at the shameless act. "If I hadn't fought back hard enough to stop him, I'd be a victim right now. Let's be real, any sane person wouldn't just sit there and let a creep get away with it, right?" Marsha pulled the hurt-sister act: "Liliana, that's not what I meant. I just didn't want people to misunderstand you." Liliana gave her a slow once-over and tilted her head. " Marsha, sometimes, I feel like I don't even know who you really are. It's like you're two different people" Her voice was soft, innocent even, but every word cut deep. It was like a kid asking a straight question—simple, but brutal. "You—!" Marsha's face twisted for a second. She barely stopped herself from snapping. "Miss Liliana, bottom line is—our Ethan got seriously hurt. You need to apologize to him!" Mrs. Brooks demanded. Old Mr. Johnson's face darkened. "If Ethan hadn't laid a hand on our Liliana, he wouldn't have gotten hit in the first place. He got what he deserved." He was nothing if not fair. If his granddaughter had been in the wrong, he'd make her apologize in a heartbeat. But this time, she was clearly the one who'd been wronged. There was no way he'd let her take the blame. Liliana's mom looked her over from head to toe, finally relaxing a bit once she confirmed that her daughter was okay.She'd always been the calm, gentle type, but when she looked at the Brooks family right now, there was a rare sharpness in her eyes. "Liliana's alright for now, but if anything had happened to her, I wouldn't have let the one responsible off so easily." Most of the guests weren't fools. While a few might've jumped to conclusions at first, the majority could still think straight. Now that the story had gotten clearer, and it was obvious Ethan was the one in the wrong, some started speaking up for Liliana. "Miss Liliana's absolutely stunning—sure, plenty of guys would fall for her. But that's no excuse to use dirty tricks!" "If Mr. Brooks really liked her that much, he should've pursued her properly." "Taking advantage of a vulnerable moment? That's low. Seriously lacking in decency." More and more people were siding with Liliana, every word throwing shade at Ethan, tearing down his reputation bit by bit. Ethan's face twisted with rage, cycling through shades of red and pale. His head had cleared up a little now, and he snapped back, "That's not true!" "Yes, I like Liliana, okay? But that doesn't mean I crossed any lines! I went to check on her because I was worried, and out of nowhere, she freaked out and came at me!" Sure, he'd planned to push things further with her, but honestly, he hadn't even had the chance to touch her! Not even a fingertip! And what shocked him the most was that she had turned into a freaking ninja out of nowhere—he didn't even get a chance to fight back. Just took the hits straight on! Getting beat up by a girl? Talk about humiliation. "I figured, no matter how crazy she acted, she's still a woman, so I didn't hit back!" Ethan added, biting back the truth. Was it that he didn't hit back—or that he literally couldn't? The crowd clearly didn't buy his version of events. Condemning voices kept coming. Some people saw right through him trying to play the victim, and although they didn't laugh out loud, a few couldn't hide their smirks. After all, they might have to deal with him in the future, so no one wanted to burn bridges just yet. But Ethan could feel the sarcasm oozing from their looks. Frustrated, he glanced at Marsha, signaling her for help. She understood immediately and piped up, "Ethan and Liliana are truly in love. They've known each other for so long and never even fought once. Tonight must've been some mix-up—Liliana had too much to drink and mistook Ethan for someone else. That's the only reason such a misunderstanding happened." She was trying to salvage Ethan's pride, making it sound like the whole thing was just a drunken mistake. She also implied that Liliana and Ethan were in a mutual relationship, not some shady thing. Hearing that, the guests turned to Liliana, who was quietly sitting next to Wilson, their expressions a touch more confused. "If Miss Liliana's already engaged to Mr. Clark, then what's this about her being in love with Mr. Brooks?" Before Liliana could say a word, Marsha rushed to answer for her, sighing dramatically. "It's... complicated." "The engagement to Mr. Clark was arranged by our elders back when she hadn't even met Ethan. But after getting to know him, she realized Ethan was the one she truly loved and wanted to break off the engagement." She paused, frowning thoughtfully. "Lately though, I don't know what's going on with her. She's suddenly really close to Mr. Clark again." Just a few sentences in, and she'd made it sound like she was worried for her sister, while subtly implying Liliana was playing both sides. "You've got one thing wrong, sis." Liliana's voice was calm, almost casual. "I never loved Ethan—not from the start, and I made that very clear the last time we met. I didn't want anything complicated between us. So, how exactly did you come to the conclusion that we had something going on?" Marsha clenched her teeth, seething inside. When did this little brat get so good at talking back? She was totally out of their control now!