Chapter 30
Chapter 30:
“Stop!” Nina cried out, stepping protectively in front of Janice. “Janice, what have you uncovered?”
Meanwhile, Aiden watched the exchange silently, his expression unreadable.
Despite Janice’s plain appearance, there was something undeniably soothing about her demeanor, an almost luminous quality that captivated him.
“I stumbled upon a rather curious anomaly,” Janice replied with a knowing smile, her gaze turning to Bart, who stood soaked from the plunge.
As their eyes locked, a visible shudder of anxiety rippled through Bart, who quickly averted his gaze.
Catching this subtle cue, Janice’s smile broadened just slightly.
“I’m intrigued—how did Aiden, in a wheelchair, manage to send Bart tumbling into the pool?”
“It was me—I stumbled in myself,” Bart murmured. “It wasn’t Aiden’s doing. Just blame it on my own clumsiness for slipping while trying to push him.”
“Really now?” Janice’s smile radiated warmth towards Aiden, yet seemed laced with menace when she turned to Bart. “But it seems you were rather clumsy, weren’t you? To slip from such a distance and miraculously end up diving into the pool.”
“What?”
The crowd filled with murmurs of confusion.
Their faces twisted in bewilderment; no one could grasp Janice’s insinuations.
“Janice, what are you getting at? If you’re just tossing around baseless claims to confuse us, I suggest you stop,” Alcott interjected, his expression tightening with displeasure as a servant handed him the stick he had demanded.
Nina fixed her gaze on Janice, her voice sharp and insistent. “Are you certain Bart fell in on his own accord?”
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“Absolutely.” Janice exhaled a sigh, gesturing towards where Aiden sat quietly. “Aiden has been right there the entire time, not moving an inch. And from his spot to the pool? It’s quite a stretch. Really, how feasible is it for someone disabled to push this illegitimate son into the water? Though, if the illegitimate son lost his footing here and then took a flying leap into the pool—well, I suppose it’s not entirely beyond belief.”
Upon hearing that, Aiden let out a chuckle.
He found Janice to be even more intriguing and audacious than he had first thought.
Her consistent references to “illegitimate son” clearly made Alcott and Bart grimace with displeasure.
Aiden found her outright mention of disability a bit too blunt and unnecessary, though.
“Janice, I appreciate you standing up for me,” Aiden cast a brief glance at Bart. “To be honest, I did push him into the pool, and somehow, he lost his footing and took a flying leap into the pool. Had my disability not hindered me, I might have been able to pull him back. Thus, my failure to act essentially equates to having pushed him.”
Janice rolled her eyes, both amused and shocked by Aiden’s biting irony. “If that’s how you see it, then I guess I’m involved as well. As your wife, had I been there beside you, I surely would have helped to pull him back.”
At this, Nina couldn’t help but burst into a suppressed giggle. She quickly covered her mouth as she realized the timing was poor.
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