Chapter 214: Chapter 214: Then Let’s Call the Police
Ariana Grant’s accusation was detailed and comprehensive.
As the words fell, the entire room fell silent.
Because Ariana’s expression was so real, even Claudia Jennings, who had chosen to believe Jillian Lynch from the start, couldn’t help but waver.
"Jillian, did you really push her into the water?"
Jillian Lynch hadn’t expected Ariana Grant to dare speak the truth after seeing her warning glance.
Was she not scared after nearly drowning just now?
A poor kid like her, did she not fear the Lynch Family’s retaliation later?
But now Jillian had no time to wonder where Ariana got her courage because everyone was staring at her.
Eyes full of disgust or suspicion.
She hurriedly waved her hands and said, "It wasn’t me, it really wasn’t me... How could I do such a thing? I only had a few words with her, I really didn’t push her... She was the one who first grabbed my hair, I was just defending myself."
Ashley Shaw said expressionlessly, "Then why didn’t you mention this earlier?"
Jillian Lynch retorted defiantly, "You didn’t ask me then, you only asked why I didn’t save her."
"Ha." Ashley clearly didn’t believe her.
From the beginning, she’d seen the guilt in Jillian Lynch’s eyes.
If not, she wouldn’t have asked why Jillian didn’t save the person.
"Pushing a person who can’t swim into water is murder, do you know that? Even if you’re not an adult, you still have to bear legal responsibility."
At the mention of "murder," Jillian became even more flustered and denied even more firmly.
"I really didn’t push her! She’s framing me! And she was the one who started it! Aunt Jennings, you believe me!"
Claudia Jennings was caught in a dilemma.
On one side, she believed Jillian Lynch wouldn’t do such a thing, and on the other side were Ariana Grant and Ashley Shaw, who spoke so firmly.
For a moment, she didn’t know whose words she should trust.
Seeing Claudia Jennings remain silent, Jillian could only look pleadingly at Rosalind Lynch.
"Sister... please say something for me!"
Rosalind Lynch knew her sister was willful but getting into a scuffle with Ariana was possible; however, she wouldn’t "intentionally murder and push someone into water."
Jillian didn’t have the courage or the necessity.
Furthermore, standing against Ashley Shaw and her friend, of course, she would side with her sister.
Rosalind stepped forward, standing before Ariana Grant: "With no proof, you can’t convict my sister just based on your word. Do you have evidence that my sister pushed you into the water? If you can’t produce evidence, it’s slander. You talked about ’intentional murder’ being illegal; well, slander is also against the law, you know?"
Ariana Grant held her head high.
"What slander? I’m telling the truth, where’s the slander? You should ask your own sister what exactly happened then, did she tell me to drink more water after I fell in?"
Of course, Jillian Lynch wouldn’t admit it and shook her head vehemently: "I didn’t say that! I didn’t do it. The innocent are innocent, don’t slander me! Be careful, we’ll sue you for slander and have you jailed for years!"
Ariana couldn’t believe this little brat Jillian was so shameless, she was furious.
"Ashley, you believe me, everything I said is true!"
Ashley Shaw let out an "Mm."
Of course, she trusted Ariana Grant.
At this moment, Grandpa Prescott spoke.
"Whether or not you pushed someone, you did curse at Ariana, and you don’t deny that, do you, Jillian?"
Seeing Grandpa Prescott’s seemingly cloudy yet all-seeing sharp eyes, Jillian panicked a bit.
Especially because Grandpa had overheard her cursing Ashley Shaw in the bathroom with her mom.
She swiftly looked away from Grandpa Prescott’s gaze.
In a mumble, she said, "I wasn’t cursing her; we were arguing, she also cursed."
Ariana Grant retorted concisely: "You’re talking nonsense."
Jillian turned pale, thinking, "So rude."
Rosalind Lynch spoke up in defense of her sister.
"Grandpa, no matter what, Jillian’s still a child. Arguing with someone is normal; discussing this is pointless."
"Also, by Miss Grant’s temperament, she might’ve gotten herself anxious and fallen into the pool, then blamed Jillian for pushing her."
"After all, only the two of them were present, nobody else saw what really happened, Miss Grant’s words might not be true."
"And from what I know of Jillian, she wouldn’t do something like that."
Ariana Grant maintained: "You’re talking nonsense too!"
A simple four words carried more weight than Rosalind Lynch’s lengthy explanation.
Rosalind’s throat tightened, speechless from anger.
Ashley Shaw couldn’t help but chuckle.
Truly, her Ariana was remarkable.
Her combativeness was impressive.
"Anyway! Your words might not be the truth either, and nothing happened to you, so we can forgive your ramblings, let’s drop the matter here."
"No."
It was Ashley Shaw who said this.
She wiped the smile off her face and spoke coldly: "Whether or not to drop it isn’t your decision, it’s ours as the victims."
Rosalind Lynch’s eyes widened.
"Victims? So you’re saying we’re the perpetrators then?"
"Aren’t you?"
"You—"
"By the way." Grandpa Prescott suddenly interrupted the two: "Since both sides have different accounts, we, who came later, don’t know the truth, so let’s check the surveillance footage."
"Dad..." Claudia Jennings spoke awkwardly: "The pool was renovated, the utilities were reconnected, so the surveillance hasn’t been powered on."
Which means the footage was unavailable.
Ashley Shaw hadn’t mentioned the surveillance not because she forgot.
Previously she had used surveillance to corner Rosalind, so she knew that in such cases, surveillance was the most credible proof and could silence the Lynch sisters.
Yet she had already looked up and seen that all four pool cameras had no red lights on.
This meant the cameras weren’t operational, so she hadn’t brought it up.
Now Claudia Jennings confirmed her suspicion: the surveillance was indeed useless.
She glanced over and saw Jillian Lynch visibly relieved.
Young and naive, she couldn’t hide her emotions.
Just as Ashley was about to speak, Jillian preemptively said, "Did you all perhaps already know the cameras weren’t working and made these accusations to frame me? Aunt, Sister, you must stand up for me!"
"Don’t worry, as long as I’m here, no one will frame you," Rosalind said, glancing at Ashley Shaw and Ariana Grant with obvious sarcasm, almost revealing their identities.
Ariana was getting anxious.
"Ashley... I indeed have no evidence, but everything I said is true. What do we do now?"
If it were just her, she might consider it as bad luck.
But now, with Ashley supporting her so much, if the matter wasn’t resolved, Ashley would also be seen as intentionally framing Jillian Lynch.
Ashley Shaw’s voice was calm.
"Then let’s call the police."