Find me in your labyrinth (Stella and Jonathan) novel Chapter 3515

Aunt Charlotte chimed in with a cool, nonchalant drawl. "Didn't you tell your mother you moved back into Carson's apartment? But someone saw you walking out of a hotel today. If that isn't a lie, what is it?"

Marina's eyes immediately darted toward Phoebe.

Aunt Charlotte was quick to defend her side. "Don't look at Phoebe. Someone else sent the photo to your grandmother. You're turning this family into a public laughingstock!"

Marina's voice went dangerously cold. "How is staying at a hotel a laughingstock? I think you're overstepping your boundaries, Aunt Charlotte."

Her grandmother frowned sharply. "Marina, your family is only looking out for you."

Rhiannon added sternly, "Do you always have to be so combative?"

Marina let out a sharp scoff. "So what you're saying, Mom, is that when someone slaps me in the face, I'm supposed to smile and offer them the other cheek?"

Aunt Charlotte's voice hit a shrill pitch. "Who's slapping you? We're merely trying to help! Honestly, your temper is like a stick of dynamite—one spark and you just explode!"

"Mom!" Phoebe gently tugged on Aunt Charlotte's sleeve, playing the peacemaker with her sickeningly sweet voice. "Don't be angry. Let's hear what Marina has to say first. I'm sure she has a perfectly logical reason for staying at a hotel."

She turned to Marina with feigned innocence. "Are you and Carson actually fighting? Or... are you staying at a hotel to spy on someone and gather evidence?"

Her venomous little suggestion instantly painted a scandalous picture for the room: Marina and Carson in a massive blowout, Marina suspecting him of cheating, and her secretly hiding out in a hotel to catch him red-handed with another woman.

The worst part was, it sounded entirely plausible to the rest of them.

Marina couldn't help but laugh out loud. "You really do have a wildly vivid imagination, Phoebe. You managed to spin my staying at a hotel into an entire Sherlock Holmes mystery."

Phoebe maintained a look of utter sincerity. "If you refuse to tell us the truth, we have no choice but to guess. Whenever someone in this family is going through a hard time, we can't just sit back and do nothing. We're a family, after all!"

And just like that, the blame was neatly shifted back onto Marina for supposedly keeping secrets.

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