The Slave Queen - Chapter 107: Chapter 107

Isabel felt as if Julia would kill her on the spot if she dared utter a single unfavorable word.
But after all, Isabel was just a maid.
Trembling with fear, she mustered her courage and stammered, "Yesterday, the matter of you impersonating Lady Raelynn..."
With a violent crash, Julia hurled the bronze mirror to the floor, shattering it into pieces.
Still seething, Julia swept everything on the tabletop with a furious backhand, sending it crashing to the floor.
In an instant, her usually clear eyes burned scarlet.
"Who leaked this?" Julia shrieked, her voice trembling with fury.
"Raelynn. Yes, it must be that bitch!" Julia screamed in fury.
Furious, Julia shrieked and stormed out of the room.
She thought, 'I have to know why she came back. Why couldn't she just die out there? Why does she always have to snatch everything from me? And now she's spreading my dirty laundry everywhere
'I swear, I won't let that bitch Raelynn get away with this!'
No sooner had Julia stormed out of her room than she found herself face-to-face with Hugo, Cecilia, and Gabriel.
"Julia, you're dressed so lightly. Where are you off to?" Cecilia asked with concern.
Cecilia was the first to notice Julia's distraught expression and red, swollen eyes. Her heart aching with concern. She quickly shed her own warm cloak and draped it over her beloved adopted daughter.
Overwhelmed by Cecilia's tender concern, Julia felt all her pent-up grievances come rushing out at once.
"Mother. Raelynn must hate me so much. She's smearing my name on purpose! Mother, why can't she ever accept me?" Julia sobbed.
She wailed hysterically, as though determined to cry out every injustice she'd suffered these past days.
In the past, Julia would cry in front of her parents and brother to win their favor over Raelynn. It was all an act.
But this time, her tears were genuine. They streamed down her face like pearls scattering from a broken necklace.
None of the Lennox family had ever seen Julia break down like this before. Flustered and at a loss, they scrambled to bring her back into her room.
Seeing the chaotic state of the room, the three were momentarily stunned.
But more than anything, their hearts ached for Julia.
After all, Julia had grown up right under their watchful eyes.
No one knew better than they did just how gentle and considerate she was.
For her to lose control and resort to throwing things, she must have been deeply wronged.
The more they thought about it, the more their guilt toward Julia grew.
At the same time, they silently blamed Raelynn for being so calculatingly petty. They blamed her for airing the family's dirty laundry in public.
Cecilia gently pulled Julia into her arms and murmured, "Sweetheart, don't cry. It breaks my heart to see you like this."
Cecilia always cared most about Julia's emotional well-being.
Julia, however, remained inconsolable.
Slamming his fist on the table, Hugo bellowed, "That ungrateful wretch! How dare she pull such a stunt?"
Early this morning, Hugo attended the imperial court session.
His fellow officials gave him knowing looks and praised him for having an outstanding daughter who brought such honor to his family by doing charity events.
He'd heard these very words just days before.
Back then, they had sounded like genuine praise.
But today, every compliment carried a distinctly mocking undertone.
Hugo was completely baffled.
It wasn't until after court that Samuel Lindsay pulled him aside and quietly revealed the truth. Only then did he understand.
To his shock, the scandal about Julia taking Raelynn's credit had broken out.
Worse yet, it had even exposed the long-concealed truth about Julia's identity.
Rumors spread like wildfire across Hazond City overnight.
From the highest-ranking officials to the humblest workers, everyone now knew that Julia, whom the Lennox family once took such pride in, was not the perfect girl whom they claimed to be.
Instead, Raelynn was the real daughter of the Lennox family, while Julia was adopted.
Julia also stole the credit for hosting charity events from Raelynn.
What should have been a good deed instead turned the entire Duke's estate into a laughingstock, all because Julia never announced that Raelynn was the one who actually hosted the charity events.
This was an absolute disgrace.
Hugo simply couldn't understand it. He thought, 'Whether the one doing charity was Julia or Raelynn, wouldn't all the credit go to the Duke's estate anyway?
'Why did Raelynn have to insist on fighting over such a meaningless title?
'Worse still, she went around spreading the news, making the entire Duke's estate a laughingstock.'
At this moment, it never even occurred to Hugo that Julia was the person who was trying to fight for the meaningless title he presumed.
Instead, he blindly pinned all the blame on Raelynn.
Not once, from the moment the incident happened until now, had he bothered to verify if Raelynn was truly responsible.
He said, "Julia, don't cry. I will go confront that ungrateful wretch right now and have her make an annoucement that you are the one who has hosted the charity events!"
"Father," Gabriel interjected with restrained urgency, reaching out to stop Hugo. "At yesterday's Ice Party, Mr. Weber specifically invited the commoners to identify the real benefactor. They all testified unanimously that it was Raelynn, not Julia. If you force Raelynn to clarify things now, won't that just give people even more grounds for criticism?"
Hugo's chest heaved with renewed fury at these words.
His concern for Julia clouded his judgment. He was only focused on shielding her from any injustice, and above all, preventing public humiliation.