The Mocked Miss’s Hidden Crowns novel Chapter 1836

Pandora swallowed hard, terror written all over her face. She refused to meet Charlotte's eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about." "Shh." Seeing Pandora try to talk her way out of it, Charlotte pressed a finger to her own lips, her voice chillingly hollow. "I'm not here to listen to your excuses. Save your breath for the cops. Jackson, Adonis, take her." Charlotte waved her hand. Jackson and Adonis immediately signaled their men to move in. "Why should I go to the police station?" Seeing the men advancing on her, Pandora began to panic, stumbling backward to get away. "The stuff online has nothing to do with me! I'm not going!" "Don't touch my daughter." Pandora's mother stepped in front of her, glaring viciously at Charlotte. "Don't think being Anthony's future wife makes you invincible..." "It actually does." Charlotte raised an eyebrow, looking thoroughly amused. "I am going to use my status as the princess of The Gates Family and Anthony's future wife to absolutely ruin Pandora. What are you going to do about it? What is your entire family going to do about it?" The sheer, oppressive dominance rolling off Charlotte left the mother entirely speechless, her eyes widening in pure terror. "Touch my people, and you better be prepared to pay the price." Charlotte stood up, brushing the invisible wrinkles from her coat. She casually spun the ring on her finger, her voice dropping into a deadly register. "Pandora is going to prison. That's a guarantee." "Charlotte..." Pandora screamed as the guards grabbed her. She thrashed wildly, her eyes bloodshot. "What did they say online that was wrong? Didn't Dorothy go to jail?! Does Shirley really have nothing to do with that?! And another thing... What right does a nobody like Shirley have to date Andrew? When Andrew looks at her, won't he think of his mother rotting in a cell? Can she really live with that?!" Shirley and Andrew hadn't left the car. Even with the windows rolled up, Pandora's vicious screams pierced clearly through the glass. Shirley dropped her head, her face deathly pale. Every single word felt like a sledgehammer slamming directly into her chest. She wasn't good enough! She didn't deserve Andrew! Ever since they started dating, those were the words she heard the most! She knew she was trying. She had been working so incredibly hard to close the massive gap between their worlds. She hadn't done anything wrong, so why was everyone dumping all the blame onto her? Just because she was born poor? Just because she came from an ordinary family? "Shirley." Sensing her despair, Andrew gently took her hand, his voice incredibly soft. "Don't listen to a word they say. None of this has anything to do with you. I promise, I'll clear your name." Shirley's eyes filled with tears. She looked at Andrew, exhaustion radiating from her, and forced a bitter smile. "This isn't the beginning, and it won't be the end." She honestly didn't know how much longer she could hold on. Inside the police station. Pandora was locked in an interrogation room. Under the glaring heat of the overhead lamp, the young girl curled into a tight, trembling ball. "I want to see a lawyer." Pandora looked up, her voice shaking violently. "Everything I said was the truth. It's not defamation." "You have the right to an attorney," the officer said coldly, jotting down notes. "But I should warn you. Shirley hired Questlaw to represent her." "What?" Pandora's eyelashes fluttered in shock as tears spilled down her cheeks. "Someone who has sent opposing lawyers to prison multiple times. Do you honestly think you have any chance of winning against her?" The officer scoffed. The facts were laid out right in front of her, yet she still tried to lie her way out of it. It only made him despise her more. "Knowing she's on the other side, do you really think any lawyer will dare take your case?"