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"Is that so?" His voice was cold. "In that case, you do not understand the feeling of being a brother. I cannot allow my sister to be slandered."

Hanae felt her heart skip a beat at the statement before calming herself down. The mansion did not have internal cameras because of privacy reasons. There was no way he could prove what he thought had happened.

"What do you mean by that?" Kaoru asked.

Even though it was an accident, Akira was responsible.

Seiji turned to Hanae. "You said that Akira shoved you down the stairs using her suitcase?" His voice was cold, like an executioner's.

Hanae felt afraid. "I said it was probably an accident. I think she lost control of her suitcase, and maybe it tripped me."

"Is that so?" Seiji said coolly. "Based on where you fell, I can only assume that you were walking on the right side of the staircase."

Hanae nodded before looking at the wide staircase. Her face lost colour. She felt exposed, and she could not breathe for a few moments. She had made a low-level mistake, and it would probably cost her everyone's trust.

"What's wrong, Hana?" Her mother noticed her ashen face.

Seiji laughed a little. "She has noticed the hole in her story. My sister declined to put her umbrella in the vestibule after entering. As you can see, she is carrying her umbrella in her right hand and the suitcase is on the left. Can you explain how she tripped you with her suitcase?"

Hanae tried to scramble for an explanation or anything to get out of the mess. However, she could not think of any excuse which could get her out of the mess.

"I am sorry, Akira. I tripped by myself, and I was too embarrassed to admit it. So, I just blamed you." She closed her eyes and shouted. "Please don't hold it against me."

Akira scoffed. "So people thinking that I am a malicious person with homicidal tendencies is nothing compared to your embarrassment?"

Hanae was surprised by the eloquent comeback. Her hands formed tight fists. She had thought that if she apologised, Akira would be too ashamed to respond. After all, she was still a guest.

"Please forgive Hana, Akira. She is still a child and has thin skin." Kaoru added in plea after realising that things were falling apart.

"Then, I look forward to meeting someone with thick skin." Akira looked at them with cold amusement. "Can someone show me to my room?"

She spoke without a hint of awkwardness or servility. The only emotion heard was unintentional impatience and irritation. She did not show as if she was anxious about staying in the mansion. It seemed like she was in a regular hotel.

Everyone was shocked by the statement because they did not expect it. They thought that the young woman would wait for justice to be served after being accused wrongly. Or, she would wait awkwardly until someone offered to take her to her room.

"I will take you there." Seiji offered while everyone was shocked.

Sayaka had been about to do the same, but her second son looked at her meaningfully. His implication was obvious in his eyes. It was up to her to sort out the mess with the two women. In the end, she could only watch her son and daughter leave.

After a few moments, Sayaka faced her elder sister and her niece with disappointment in her eyes. She also felt angry, but she was mostly angry at herself.

She could see that her actions had probably alienated her daughter. But she had believed she was doing the best thing.

If Akira had pushed Hanae, she would have stood by her daughter's side. She would have driven away Hanae so that Akira would feel more at peace as a family member. For her, it did not matter as long as she had her long-lost daughter back.

However, she had not thought deeply about how her attitude would affect Akira.

Even if she was willing to support her, regardless of her actions, she should not have doubted her character.

As she contemplated the matter, she realised that her actions had betrayed her biases. Deep inside, she must have believed that her daughter was a petty and small-minded person just because she had not been raised among the elite families.

"Hanae, how could you try to frame your cousin?" Sayaka asked with a hard voice. "Why would you do that?"

She had watched this young girl grow up, and she could not understand why she would do such a lowly thing.

Hanae realised that she was in danger of being estranged permanently from her aunt. The thought made her realise how short-sighted she had been by playing such a trick. Even though the long-term feelings between her and her aunt were deep, she could not compete against the guilt she had.

Yes, Hanae believed it was guilt, and she was not wrong.

Sayaka's actions and attempts to be closer to her daughter were based on her guilt for failing her child. Hence, her actions and affections came off as fake.

Hanae burst into tears at the questions.

The effect of the tears coupled with her rumpled appearance made her seem weak and pitiful. Moreover, she genuinely regretted her actions because they had made her at risk of losing everything.

"I am sorry, auntie. I was jealous." She hiccupped. "I thought I was losing you and uncle and my brothers, so I lost my mind in the heat of the moment."

She confessed with an open face like a repentant child.

Daiki frowned and looked at his wife, waiting for her to take a tough stance against her niece. However, before Sayaka could open her mouth, Kazuo spoke up.

"Hanae, you cannot think of it as losing someone. This can be considered as gaining a sister." The man reached a hand and touched Hanae's head in comfort.

"You must apologise to Akira properly." Chiharu chimed in. "We should all apologise to Akira for misunderstanding her."

When it came to green tea arts, Chiharu was a master. With a single sentence, she distributed the blame to the whole family so that Sayaka and Daiki would not have grounds for chasing out Hanae without seeming hypocritical.

Actually, she did not want to help Hanae because she was not smart enough to handle the complexities of aristocratic politics. However, she needed someone to keep an eye on the new girl.

With the additional sibling, the wealth of their family could reduce significantly if she was not careful. Her only choice was to use Hanae.