Chapter 166

Isabella Austin held herself with quiet grace, her lips curving into a gentle smile. “I’m not upset,” she said softly. “I’m just worried all your effort with the tulips will go to waste after so much time tending them.”
“If Emily really did offend you, I apologize on her behalf.”
Arianna George’s anger, which had just begun to subside, flared right back up at Isabella’s words. Her face darkened, eyes sharp as she fixed them on Emily Blair, studying every nuance of her expression as if searching for a lie.
Emily caught the glimmer of amusement in Isabella’s eyes and felt a cold laugh rise in her chest. She saw through the act—Isabella had brought up the tulips on purpose, just to rile up Arianna and turn the situation against her.
Arianna’s voice was low and pressing. “Was it you?”
Emily glanced over at the others. Andrew Lane looked utterly detached, hands shoved in his pockets, his gaze drifting somewhere behind Isabella as if she was the only person in the room worth noticing. From the very start, it was clear Andrew had come here for no one but Isabella.
Emily’s expression was calm and cool as she met Arianna’s stare. “When exactly did these people see me?”
“One o’clock in the afternoon,” Arianna replied.
“And when did they say I left?”
“Around two.”
Emily offered a slight smile. “And when did you discover the tulips had been ruined?”
“Eight this morning.”
Emily bent down and picked up one of the limp bunches of tulips. “So, there’s an eighteen-hour window in between.”
She held Arianna’s gaze. “How are you so sure I was the one who destroyed your tulips?”
Arianna’s stern expression began to waver, her anger cooling as she processed Emily’s words.
Ashley Miller, standing beside Emily with her arms crossed, had lost her usual bright smile. Her tone was blunt and edged with irritation. “I was with both of them all afternoon yesterday. If they snuck off to do something like this, I’d know.”
Sophia Clark couldn’t hold back a retort. “How do we know you’re not all in on it together?”
Ashley’s smile was sharp and mocking. “Even a dog sniffs around before it eats garbage. Maybe you should look for some evidence before throwing accusations.”
Sophia’s face tightened in embarrassment.
Emily watched Arianna’s shifting expression, then broke the silence at just the right moment. “Ms. George, at this point, I want to know who did this even more than you do.”
Isabella suddenly grabbed Andrew’s arm and said sweetly, “Andrew and I will help investigate.”
It wouldn’t be hard to get to the bottom of this. If Isabella and Sophia hadn’t sabotaged the tulips themselves, then the only other suspects were the locals.
Emily headed back to the tulip bed. The flowers lay flattened and lifeless against the earth, their stems broken. She crouched down, examining the ground closely, and gently moved aside a few tulip leaves.
That’s when she saw it—a tiny footprint hidden in the dirt beneath the flowers.
The size left no doubt. Only a child could have left that print.
She brushed away more of the soil, fully revealing the mark.
Elizabeth Wilson knelt beside her. “So, it was a kid?”
Emily’s voice was matter-of-fact. “Looks that way.”
She straightened up and glanced behind her. No one else was there.
Elizabeth’s smile was tinged with irony. “Don’t bother looking. You know as well as I do-Isabella started swooning about heatstroke, and everyone rushed off to fuss over her.”
“Who knows what their real motives are.”
Emily’s eyes were cool. “Doesn’t matter.”
She started walking, scanning the ground for more clues.
If someone stepped in fresh dirt, there had to be more footprints somewhere.