Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella) novel Chapter 849

Faced with Lottie’s interrogation, Melissa swore up and down on everything she held dear.

Sure, the younger generation of the Norton family had seen better days, but Old Mr. Norton still had some clout in Ferrowland.

And, well… in Ferrowland, folks take their promises seriously.

Swearing an oath—especially the kind where you’re basically saying, “Strike me down if I’m lying”—isn’t something anyone does lightly. If Melissa really had something to hide, she’d probably have tried to use Old Mr. Norton as her shield, not stack up oaths like pancakes at a Sunday brunch.

Stella glanced at Lottie. “Mom, maybe it wasn’t her after all?”

Just the fact that Melissa was willing to swear so many oaths made it seem unlikely she was the culprit.

Lottie narrowed her eyes, studying Melissa.

Melissa, exasperated, threw up her hands. “It seriously wasn’t me! If I’m lying, may lightning strike me right now—how about that?”

She was practically losing it.

Who the hell did this, anyway? When she found out, she was going to make them wish they’d never been born.

What kind of twisted person has a crush on a guy but can’t just own up to it? What kind of nonsense is that?

The more she thought about it, the angrier Melissa got.

In her head, she was already coming up with a hundred different ways to make whoever did this pay.

Lottie glanced at the butler. “Show her out.”

Clearly, at this point, Melissa was looking less and less like the guilty party.

The butler nodded, stepping forward. “Ms. Norton, I apologize. It seems there’s been a misunderstanding.”

“Huh?” Melissa blinked.

The butler continued, “This matter is settled.”

Melissa just stared. “...That’s it? It’s over?”

Her mind went completely blank.

She looked at the butler, then back at Lottie. What the heck? That’s it? We’re just… done?

This didn’t seem right.

It really didn’t…

But she stammered, “So… it’s just over?”

Melissa fumed all the way out.

…

Once Melissa was gone, Lottie turned to Stella. “You really think it wasn’t her?”

Stella replied, “In this town, swearing an oath isn’t something people do on a whim.”

Especially not when it’s about something they actually did—most folks wouldn’t dare.

Lottie’s eyes narrowed. “You never know. Some people will risk everything for their own ends. What’s an oath, compared to that?”

So, just because Melissa swore up and down, Lottie wasn’t convinced she was innocent. The Norton family wasn’t what it used to be, after all.

Stella frowned, saying nothing.

Lottie said, “Let’s talk to Regina next.”

In her mind, the two people with the biggest crush on Ronald were Regina and Melissa. So, it had to be one of them.

The butler, having seen Melissa out, brought Regina in.

Regina… Once the princess of the Schultz family, she’d been the apple of their eye just three years ago—loved by her parents, cherished by her brother.