As the matter gradually spread around, it caused quite a stir within their social circle, though no one had so far caused Stella any trouble.
She herself had no desire to enmesh herself with all the messy problems, so she was a little surprised when she saw Guinevereâs parents looking for her at Jasonâs mansion.
âWhy do you want to see me?â she asked them.
âWe heard that youâre back, and we know you want revenge on Gwen, but considering sheâs suffered enough, why donât you show her some mercy and spare her lifeâ¦?â
âWhat on earth are you talking about?â asked Stella, utterly befuddled.
The elderly Cohens looked at each other.
Only three years had passed, but they seemed to have aged decades. The Cohen family had gradually declined in their influence within the circle. Three years ago, Weston exposed all the shady things they did, and they came very close to having everything they owned seized by the authorities.
The Cohens had plummeted nearly to the point of destitution. They lost all the benefits that they used to gain from Weston, and because of that, even as Guinevere was sent to the sanitarium, none of her family could do anything other than watch quietly.
They had become completely powerless.
âHavenât you heard? Weston is clearly framing Gwen for Zackâs murder because of you. Think about it, Zack was Gwenâs very own son! How could she ever do such a thing to him?â
Three years ago, Guinevereâs affair with Chris Ford had practically rocked the whole of Ahn City. It even spread to the nearby Fern City, where the whole town knew of what they had done, becoming one of the most searched â for news on the internet.
Everyone now knew that Guinevere Cohen, the former superstar who grew up together with Weston Ford and his supposed perfect match, had gone behind his back to have an affair with his own father.
To make matters worse, she even gave birth to a boy whose father was Chris Ford.
This whole scandal proved to be a terrible blow to the Cohen family.
In fact, it even devastated the Ford familyâs reputation as well, but luckily for them, they had Westonâs impressive strength to rely on. Although their reputation took a temporary hit, Weston managed to pull them back up to their initial heights in no time at all.
Meanwhile, the Cohensâ wealth and reputation were already in decline even before everything happened. Although they had been insulated from any serious consequences in the past, being among the richest and most prestigious families in Ahn City, this scandal was just too devastating a blow to them that even their money and status could not save them from ruin.
After all, much of their wealth had come from their reliance on Weston Ford, who naturally refused to do anything to help them after all that had happened. In fact, not only was he unwilling to help, he was even hell bent on attacking them by exposing all of the shady businesses that they had been conducting in secret, thus painting the Cohensâ back as a target for harsh social judgment and criticism.
In the end, the Cohens completely fell from grace and became social pariahs.
â
Nevertheless, they were still grateful that Guinevere was still alive. Until then, they simply refused to believe that she was the real murderer who killed Zachary Ford!
âSheâs his mother, after all! How could she ever do such a heinous thing?!â
Amidst the Cohensâ passionate pleas, Stella finally connected the dots and realized what had been
happening.
It became clear that Westonâs disappearance these last few days was not because he had finally given up on her, but because he had been busy investigating the truth behind Zacharyâs murderâ¦
At first, even she was shaken by this revelation. She found it hard to believe that Guinevere would really murder her own child, but she soon calmed down, and memories of Guinevereâs vicious nature came flooding back to her.
It wasnât so hard then to accept the fact that Guinevere would stoop so low and do such a thing.