She Outshines 43


    Chapter 43


    “Enough!” At that moment, Jarred, who was seated at the same table as Athena, suddenly stood


    up. His voice was firm yet polite as he said, “Miss Donovan, Mrs. Kennedy, tonight is Zoe’s


    graduation celebration.


    “I kindly ask you both to give me this favor. Let’s set aside your grievances until after the party. Let


    Zoe enjoy her evening in peace.”


    Athena smiled, realizing that now that things were turning against the Kennedy family, the Murray


    family finally decided to step in.


    She didn’t rush to respond, instead, she just gave Regina a cold, steady look.


    Regina was reluctant, but she didn’t have enough evidence to prove that Athena had stolen the


    diamond ring. She was also worried that any surveince footage Athena presented might work


    against the Kennedy family, and she feared the influence of Harry, who was backing Athena.


    Reluctantly, she took the way out offered to her, “The Kennedy family and the Murray family are


    longtime friends, so of course, we’ll respect your wishes.”


    With that, Athena graciously spread her hands. “Since Zoe went through so much trouble to invite


    my entire family, I’ll give her this favor as well.”


    Jarred smiled. Thank you all. Let’s raise a toast.”


    Athena raised her ss and took & small sip of red wine.


    After she sat down, Arthur leaned over and whispered in her ear, Athena, after they used you


    like that, why did you let them off so easily? I think you should’ve shown the footage and made them


    apologize.”


    Athena chuckled softly. “There is no footage.”


    Arthur blinked in surprise. “What? What do you mean?”


    Athena grinned like a fox. “I was bluffing.”


    Back when she was staying at the Kennedy family’s house, she never imagined they would try to


    frame her. Plus, since there were already cameras in themon areas, it never urred to her to


    install a separate camera in her room. Owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    She was betting that whoever was framing her would be too scared to risk her producing the


    footage.


    Of course, even if they had called her bluff and demanded the footage, she had other ways to prove


    her innocence-it just would ve been more of a hassle.


    “You… you…” Arthur stared at her, dumbfounded, before finally murmuring, “You really took that


    gamble? You nearly gave me a heart attack.”


    Athena’s nerves were incredible, and she yed the part so convincingly that he had fully believed


    she had actual footage and was eagerly waiting for her to show it to crush the Kennedy family,


    Athenaughed. “Why not? I’m pretty gutsy.”


    Arthur had nothing more to say, so he just gave her a thumbs-up


    Zoe, who had been watching Athenaughing and chatting, felt a flicker of anger in her eyes.


    When she had visited Regina at the Kennedy family’s house, Regina had shown off that diamond


    ring, which sparked an idea in Zoe. She secretly hacked into the Kennedy family’s security system,


    causing the cameras to malfunction so they couldn’t record:


    Chapter 43


    Then, she sneaked into Regina’s bedroom, took the ring, andter slipped it into Athena’s coat


    pocket to frame her.


    The n had worked-until Athena imed she had installed a hidden camera in her room, nearly


    exposing everything. But no matter, the diamond ring incident was just a minor setback. Her real


    n hadn’t been put into action yet.


    She nced at the time-it was already 5:10 PM. She signaled the staff to stop the music and


    prepared to go on stage to give her speech.


    But just then, amotion erupted at the entrance, and someone shouted, “Mr. Harper has


    arrived!”


    The guests buzzed with excitement. They nced at Athena, then at Gia, before exchanging


    knowing smiles and turning their attention to the entrance, whispering among themselves.


    “Wow, this is getting good! One drama ends, and another one begins. Even TV shows aren’t this


    entertaining.”


    “I heard Mr. Harper canceled his engagement with Athena and ns to marry the real daughter of


    the Kennedy family. With both the fake and real daughters here tonight, do you think they’ll end up


    fighting over him?”


    “This is a real showdown-on one side, the new love like a princess, on the other, the old me like a


    goddess. Who’s he going to choose?”


    “Only kids make choices-adults want both. One as a wife, the other as a mistress…”


    People openly joked andughed about the situation.


    Wesley and the others looked furious, almost ready to pull Athena out of there.


    But Athena stayed calm, smiling as if none of it bothered her at all.


    Lucas entered, dressed in a stylishvender checkered suit paired with white trousers. With his


    handsome face and tall, slender figure, he stood out among the men in dark suits, exuding a unique


    blend of elegance and trendiness.


    On his arm was his well-endowed but not particrly bright sister, Jodie.


    Jodie wore a bright yellow princess dress. Herrge eyes appeared unfocused, as if she were


    severely nearsighted, giving her a dreamy, slightly dazed look that made people worry she might trip


    because she couldn’t see clearly.


    In reality, she wasn’t nearsighted; she just naturally had that spacey, slightly slow-witted demeanor.


    “Mr. Harper is still as handsome as ever, some women couldn’t help but admire. “If he wanted to


    marry me, I’d pay him to do it”


    “Poor Athena, she was so close to bing the Harper family’s daughter-inw, but now the


    Kennedy family’s real daughter is getting all the benefits…”


    “I can believe Athena doesn’t care about the Kennedy family’s fortune, but there’s no way she’s


    okay with losing Mr. Harper…


    Lucas overheard the murmurs around him. He lifted his chin slightly, casting a sidelong nce at


    Athena, his expression clearly saying, “Did you hear that? Letting me go was your biggest mistake.


    Tonight, I’ll be with Gia, while you’re stuck with your shabby family, mocked and scorned by


    everyone…”


    Athena, meanwhile, was calmly feeding Josie fruit, not even sparing Lucas a nce.


    Lucas sneered internally, “Keep up the act. Let’s see how long you can keep pretending.”


    Following the usher, he made his way to the front of the hall, where his seat was set at the Kennedy


    family’s table


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    Regina’s eyes flickered with a quick idea. She stood up and warmly called out, “Mr. Harper, why


    don’t you sit here with us?


    The crowd chuckled, thinking she was really ying dirty.


    Athena’s seat was directly in front of Regina, who was nked by Andrew on one side and Gia on


    the other. By inviting Lucas to sit right behind Athena and next to Gia, it was clear that Regis was


    trying to provoke Athena.


    Lucas couldn’t have been more pleased with this setup.


    “Thank you, Mrs. Kennedy, Lucas stood beside Athena, graciously thanking Regina.


    “You’re wee; we’re practically family,” Regina replied with a knowing smile as she moved to sit


    on the other side of the table.


    look especially beautiful tonight. Lucas said as he sat down, greeting her with all the charm of a


    gentleman.


    Gia smiled sweetly. “Thank you, you’re looking particrly handsome tonight too.”


    Andrew patted Lucas on the shoulder and said loudly, “Mr. Harper, aren’t you going to say hello to


    your ex-fiancée, Athena?” “Athena, you’re here too?” Lucas pretended to only now notice her,


    turning with a look of concern. “It’s been a while; you seem to have lost some weight. Haven’t you


    been getting enough rest?”


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