?<strong>Chapter 697:</strong>


    She frowned at Thea’s smug smile and asked, “What do you want?”


    “Grandma asked me to bring you back. Are youing with me?” Thea asked in a sarcastic tone, raising an eyebrow.


    Doubt lingered in Elyse’s mind. She wondered why Felicia would want to see her. Had Pearce convinced Felicia to listen to her y the violin?


    “Fine, I’ll go with you,” Elyse agreed, believing her sole connection to Felicia was her desire to y the violin for her before leaving.


    Thea’s smile broadened. “Good. Follow me.”


    Elyse got into the car and apanied Thea back to the Benson Estate.


    The moment she stepped into the living room, she sensed an unusual atmosphere. She quietly observed her surroundings before sitting down to wait for Felicia.


    A few minutester, Felicia, leaning on a cane, approached Elyse. Her gaze fell on the violin case in Elyse’s hand, and her expression darkened.


    Sitting across from Elyse, Felicia asked, her voice stern, “What were you doing at the Bentleys’ banquet yesterday?”


    Elyse nced at Thea, who stood nearby, and replied calmly, “I was invited to their banquet.”


    Thea immediately interjected, “Impossible. You didn’t have an invitation. Everyone knows they dislike your dad. How could they send you one?”


    Elyse countered, “Is an invitation necessary to attend their banquet?”


    Thea sneered, “It shows how little you know. Who hosts a banquet without sending invitations? You really are a bumpkin. I bet you just snuck in.”


    Elyse shrugged nonchntly. “I’m the exception.”


    Felicia’s voice turned icy. “How could you have special privileges? What were you really doing there?”


    Elyse sensed something was amiss.


    “Didn’t you call me here to listen to my violin performance?”


    Felicia snorted. “Listen to you y? That’sughable. Why would I want to hear that?”


    Stunned, Elyse asked, “Then why did you call me here?”


    Thea, raising her chin, said with a smug expression, “Why? You don’t realize you offended someone at the Bentley family? Because of you, I was permanently cut off from them. If you hadn’t done what you did, this would’ve never happened.”


    Elyse retorted, “Isn’t it typical for you to be cut off? You’re just Forrest’s sycophant. He discarded you, and now you’re pinning the me on me?”


    Thea didn’t expect Elyse to be so blunt.


    Thea’s eyes shed with venom. “Forrest and I are friends, not whatever you’re insinuating. You’ve not only ruined my rtionship with him but also ndered me. Elyse, how could you be so cruel?”


    In a sudden moment of rity, Elyse understood Thea’s ploy. Thea had been cast aside by the Bentley family and now needed a scapegoat to deflect Felicia’s wrath.


    Elyse turned to Felicia, her feelings a tumultuous mix of confusion and frustration.


    .


    .


    .