A Caged Songbird's Escape: Into the Arms of a Predator novel Chapter 321

“That’s not exactly wrong.”

Butler Murphy couldn’t help voicing his concern. “But if the family is from another city—if we offend them, wouldn’t that be a problem…?”

He was always the cautious type.

But Matriarch Paige Murphy had never cared much for caution—or for anyone besides herself. She scoffed, “Even if your guess is right, just how many families are there that we can’t afford to cross? The only one near Vistapeak City is the Wilkinsons from Cresthaven. That’s a hornet’s nest we don’t touch.”

“As for the rest, you think they’d go to war with the Murphys over Elissa Drummond? Please.”

The Murphy family couldn’t afford to offend the Wilkinsons.

But by the same token, the other families wouldn’t dare cross the Murphys either.

And there’d been no word that the Wilkinsons were even coming to Vistapeak City. What were the odds that someone from their family just happened to be staying here?

Butler Murphy nodded, “You’re right, madam…”

“Then what are you waiting for? Go and get her!”

Matriarch Paige, sitting in the back seat, shot Elissa a glare so sharp it could have cut glass. “If you let her stall for time again, how am I supposed to answer to the Crest family?”

Butler Murphy hesitated only a moment before nodding. “Understood.”

The Crest family might not be as powerful as the Murphys, but that meant little to Rowan Murphy.

If they got stood up again and lost their patience, even the old matriarch might not be able to smooth things over.

Elissa, pinned between two bodyguards, was far enough away that she couldn’t make out what they were saying. She could guess, though. Nothing good ever came from a secretive family huddle.

Her confidence only made Butler Murphy more uneasy. He leaned in close and muttered, “Madam, maybe I should just check who’s staying here before we—”

“Idiot!” Paige snapped, glaring at him. “You’re just like Slate—always falling for her tricks! Tell me, has that girl ever told the truth in her life?”

“You men—every last one of you—let her lead you by the nose!”

Ever since Elissa was a child, she’d known how to act innocent and play the fool. One by one, everyone at Murphy Manor had been duped by her. The maids, thinking her so sweet, would always go easy on her when doling out punishments—unless Paige herself was watching. Behind her back, they’d whisper about the old matriarch’s cruelty, wondering how she could treat such a “well-behaved” girl so harshly.

Then there was the scandal with Slate Murphy. He’d been sent overseas after an incident that Paige was certain had been a trap set by Elissa from the start. How else could it have happened—so many guests around, and yet Slate just happened to drag Elissa into a room, only to pass out before he could even lay a hand on her?

Just thinking about it made Paige’s blood boil. That wretched girl—just like her parents before her—was the bane of Paige Murphy’s existence.

So whatever Butler Murphy said now fell on deaf ears. As far as Paige was concerned, this was just another one of Elissa’s games.