Elias had not even started his defense when his mother marched into the room like a storm. "Is that what happened? Elias Veythar, how could you do this?"
He opened his mouth to respond but again, he had to shut up Cyra raced in. "If a man treated me the way you treated Sienna, I know for a fact that you would personally beat the crap out of him."
Sienna was surprised to see them...standing up for her! She was not even sure if that was what it was. It made her glad that the old Sienna had forgotten to delete that video of that day. If she had been trying to familiarize herself with the original owner's past and all aspects of her life, she would not have stumbled on the video.
While the woman had done things worth frowning over, she was not the biggest villain in history as everyone made her out to be.
It was so bad that there were some movies and shows in which a character that was supposed to be her appeared. Oversized, lazy, stupid and chasing after men!
"Mother, I was handed evidence that proved she stalked me and hid in the closet." Elias shouted defensively. He presented his phone as well. The evidence was in a file that had been put together by his lawyer in preparation for the divorce lawsuit.
There were pictures and recordings showing her in the same places he had visited on four separate occasions. Worse still, fragments of her online comments, two of them. She was praising his looks.
She had also paused with a holopicture of his at a trade market event. Not simply posed but puckered her lips as if she was about to kiss it!
"What is this, if not evidence of her stalking and plotting against me?"
Sienna, bewildered, tried to explain. "I went to the trade market for herbs that reduce appetite. As a dancer, I needed to be able to maintain my weight. I didn't just pose with your cut out...err..holopicture. I posed with others, I have proof too."
Once again, she was glad that Sienna was not the kind of person that deleted old pictures of herself when she was still a bombshell.
"As for the online comments, it was just two of them." she huffed. "There were millions of comments from different women, to accuse me of stalking you over two comments is simply arrogance."
Elias folded his arms and crossed his legs. "What about the other four occasions?"
"We passed through the same port at Lost-born city. We both visited the caves of Arctis and we were both at the beastly heaven gardens on the same day but I was there to perform at a wedding." Sienna snorted. "Is this it? Is this the evidence that sentenced me to five and a half years of misery?" She shook her head. "If this is how you are leading the fox tribe, then I am worried for their future."
Elias was taken aback. "Are you calling me stupid?"
Sienna shook her head. "I did not say that." She stood up slowly, looking at the time. "I have an appointment later and I am tired right now. I hope you consider paying compensation for the emotional torture you put me through."
They all watched her walk away and Elias sagged. His ears drooped miserably.
"Elias...." Lady Cadelaria sighed. "When you said you wanted to marry Sienna, I was skeptical because is not a fox. Worse, she is a non beast man. But then, she gave birth to perfect children with our beast gene. The least we could have done was be nice to her for that. My God...we ignored her...."
"I didn't know the truth." Elias jumped in, his voice low. "the evidence condemned Sienna. The pictures, recordings, the comments and how unlikely it was that of all rooms in the hotel she ended up in mine. How could the janitor have sent her there of all places? My heat came suddenly, I did not have a suppressant. What happened was a mistake?"
Cyra leaned forward. "Who gave you the evidence?"
"Someone I trusted." He answered.
Lady Cadelaria narrowed her eyes, "Who?"
Elias hesitated, then exhaled. "It was Patience Murchison." Their families had a close friendship. Her father was one of the captains of Clawspire's vanguard. They had grown up together.
Cyra leaned forward, her fox-crimson gaze flashing. "Patience? I understand that she is your friend but have you forgotten that the Murchison's approached our family in the hopes of establishing a marriage alliance. I never told anyone this but she wept when you got married. Brother, do you not see? She had a motive. If she could not be your wife, maybe she decided to ensure that no other woman could hold your heart."
Elias' claws flexed against the table. "No..that...Patience is loyal. She has never lied to me before."
Lady Cadelaria's voice was cool, measured. "Bill Murchison has long coveted our power. That is why he pushed his daughter in your path. The girl was sweet, so I let her hang around you. But it cannot be denied that she was raised with fantasies about becoming your wife. Her intentions in bringing these photos to you are indeed questionable."
Cyra scoffed. "She knew what she was doing. She knows that you hate deceitful people so she used her knowledge to poison you against Sienna. I don't care how good a friend she is to you, that is cruelty, not care."
Elias bowed his head. "And I let it happen. I did not think to investigate. I just hated Sienna. I judged her because of her background. She is right, I did wrong her."
Silence hung heavy. Then Lady Cadelaria placed her hand upon his. "It is not all your fault. You are the fox lord, but, even lords are prey to deception. What matters now is what you do with this knowledge. What we all do with this knowledge. As for you, will you confront Patience? Or will you let her scheme die in the dark."
Elias' eyes burned with resolve. "I will not allow her lies to linger. Sienna is the mother of my children, she deserves justice. Patience must answer for what she had done."
Lady Cadelaria sighed. She thought about Sienna's behavior lately. Her daughter-in-law seemed to be done with everything Veythar. Would punishing Patience convince her to see them in a new light?
"Where is Sienna?" she asked one of the maids.
"Sleeping." The answer came quickly.
Lady Cadelaria laughed. Some things had changed, but at least Sienna was still lazy.
"Miss Ali is also in the bedroom." The maid shared reluctantly. "What do we do?"
In the past, Sienna was not allowed to be alone with the children because she barked at them. Had that changed now?