The Killer Queen (Noella Briony) novel Chapter 355

"Ever look back and wonder about the silly things you did when you were younger, huh?"

Helen sat in her wicker chair, lazily waving a fan back and forth.

The fan was embroidered with wisteria, a riot of colors that seemed almost sinister in Ashlyn's eyes!

She recognized it at a glance.

This fan was something Harriet used to carry around when she was younger!

"Helen! May you never find peace! You hate Harriet so much, yet you keep her belongings? Oh, the horror!"

Helen replied calmly, "Why shouldn't I use it? It was a gift from her. The one with a guilty conscience isn’t me."

Ashlyn was on the verge of a breakdown, both mentally and physically!

"Let me go, Marcel won't let you treat me this way. I've been his wife for years, who gave you the right to torment me like this?"

Helen straightened up, continuing to wave her fan leisurely.

The sarcasm on her face was unmistakable!

"Me, tormenting you? Think hard about how you treated Elara! When she was five, you tried to poison her with rat poison in her food, hoping to get rid of Elara so your granddaughter could take her place in the Schnabel family!"

"When Elara was in elementary school, you insisted she board there and not come home!"

"How old was that child, having to cook and clean for you, an old witch? Couldn’t the Schnabel family afford a maid?"

At first, Merrick and Freya were reluctant to help with the child as well.

Both elders had their careers, thinking a nanny would suffice given the Schnabel family's brood.

It was only after Jasper visited and came back teary-eyed to Merrick, claiming his sister was on death's doorstep!

Ashlyn, taking advantage of Sienna's postpartum recovery, claimed she'd help with the child but had the nanny feed Elara nothing but water and rice broth behind their backs!

Merrick was shocked, skipping a literary award ceremony one evening to rush and retrieve Elara.

By the time he arrived, Elara had withered to a shadow of herself.

If not for her maternal grandparents, Elara would've been long gone, thanks to this cruel hag!

Helen was livid as she recounted these events!

"When Elara was three, you even tried to bind her feet. Your own feet are bigger than a donkey's hooves; why didn’t you bind them? Why torment my granddaughter instead?"

Ashlyn was speechless, not expecting Helen to have dug up so much dirt.

"I...I was only thinking of her best interest..."

"Best interest my foot! Don’t worry, I won't lay a hand on you. Since you were 'so good' to Elara, I'll return the favor 'so good' to you.

You seem to forget, making Elara stand out in the sun until her skin peeled. What kind of person does that to a child?"

Helen glared at Ashlyn, whose skin was now sunburnt to a crisp.

The venom in her voice was palpable!

This old zealot had not stopped her wicked ways for years!

"And she turned out just fine... I was toughening her up. She's successful now because of my 'good' upbringing. You should be thanking me!"

Facing Ashlyn's blatant self-justification, Helen could only scoff.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to 'thank' you properly. I have all the time in the world. As for what surname my granddaughter chooses, that's none of your damn business!"

Helen rolled her eyes.

"You think your marriage to Marcel wasn’t because you snatched someone else's child? Would Marcel have married you otherwise?"