My Great Escape Led Me to You (Emily Blair) novel Chapter 526

Tristan Davis kept his face stern, responding with a curt, noncommittal grunt. He angled his head slightly, shooting the piano a look that was impossible to read.

Emily Blair hesitated, her brow furrowing. “What’s wrong?”

Tristan didn’t answer. Instead, his arm tightened protectively around her shoulders, his expression growing darker.

“Dennis!”

Isabella Austin’s heels clicked frantically on the hardwood as she rushed in, breathless and flustered, her gown bunched up in her hands as she hurried across the room.

Emily was about to step aside to give Isabella room, but before she could, Tristan gently but firmly guided her behind the piano, shielding her from view.

Emily glanced up at Tristan, confusion flickering in her eyes.

Isabella hurried over, dropping to her knees and gathering Dennis Lane into her arms, her worry etched deep on her face. “Dennis, sweetheart, why are you crying? Tell Mommy what happened.”

The moment he saw his mother, Dennis buried himself in her embrace, his voice trembling with misery. “Mom, it hurts…”

Emily watched the scene quietly, her expression unreadable.

Isabella clung to Dennis, her concern obvious, her face pale as she looked over at Andrew Lane. “Why is he hurt? What happened?”

Andrew’s face gave nothing away.

Dennis sniffled, his voice small and pitiful. “That mean lady tripped me on purpose. I fell, and now everything hurts…”

Isabella’s tone sharpened. “Which lady? Tell Mommy who hurt you.”

Dennis, cradled in his mother’s arms, pulled out a hand and pointed—hesitantly, almost theatrically—straight at Emily Blair, who stood off to the side.

Instantly, Isabella’s eyes filled with even more sympathy, her expression tinged with a silent, self-sacrificing sorrow, as if she were enduring this humiliation for the sake of peace.

“Emily, may I ask why?” Isabella’s voice trembled, wounded but controlled.

Emily made a small, exasperated sound in her mind.

Like mother, like son, she thought. Their tactics for pinning blame were eerily similar.

Emily turned to Andrew Lane, a faint smile on her lips. “I wasn’t the only one who saw what happened. Mr. Lane was here the whole time.”

She addressed Andrew directly now. “Mr. Lane, maybe you should tell everyone what you saw. What really happened.”

She could feel Andrew’s eyes on her—no, not quite on her face, more on her bare shoulder, his gaze lingering a beat too long.

After a moment, Andrew slowly looked away from her and down at Dennis.

Sensing his father’s attention, Dennis shrank back behind Isabella, hiding his face in her side.

Isabella felt a chill run through her.

Emily, meanwhile, felt a wave of doubt. Andrew’s record for fairness was… less than stellar. His favoritism toward Isabella often stretched the bounds of belief.

She was sure Andrew had witnessed the entire incident, but she couldn’t be sure he’d actually tell the truth about what Dennis had done.

A faint headache started to build behind her eyes, frustration simmering beneath her calm exterior.