Lydia's sinister eyes glared at the maid before she turned to glare at Freya as though she wanted to kill Freya with her glares.

This witch! How dare you scheme against us!

Owen's face was pale with anger, and he pointed at Lydia while shouting, "What is going on?"

"Dad, I…" Lydia clenched her fists. Caught off guard by the situation, she did not have an explanation in mind just yet.

After a moment of hesitation, she decided to shift all the blame onto Freya. "Freya, how could you be so ungrateful? Clearly, you snuck out for your affair. When Arthur found out about you, you actually did this to him."

She then showed Owen the photos she had taken during the day.

"Dad, look at this. Freya and James were hugging in the garden. They clearly have an affair going on."

The phone showed a photo of Freya and James embracing each other. Anyone could tell that they knew each other.

Susan felt her head spin the moment she glanced at it. No wonder James was acting strange today. It was all because of Freya.

She took two weak steps back and leaned against Brian.

The expression on Owen's face became even uglier as he turned to Freya and demanded, "Explain!"

Bradley's face darkened. He was about to speak when Freya placed a hand over his lips, indicating that she would explain everything.

She had not expected Lydia to stalk her and take photos of her.

Still, it did not matter. Nothing happened between her and James. She was not afraid of the accusations.

The determined gaze in her eyes let Bradley know she had a plan in mind. Hence, he nodded and let her stand up.

After getting on her feet, Freya glanced at Lydia and the sinister glare directed at her that made Freya think Lydia wanted to eat her alive.

However, she was not afraid. She knew Bradley would protect her.

"Lydia, there were rats in the garden. I was scared, so James helped me. We weren't hugging," Freya said, innocently blinking at Lydia.

She was playing a fool, but these people wanted her to be a fool. In that case, she would see the act through to the end.

"This lady here gave me some soup in the evening and told me Bradley would be waiting here for me. My entire body was burning up afterward, so I took a nap. When I woke up, the door was locked. I see. She had locked me up as she was afraid I would find her playing with Arthur."

"It's not like that!"

The maid bit her lip and trembled from within the blanket. She furiously exclaimed in response, "I left after escorting you to this villa. I never met Mr. Arthur the entire time."

"You admit to drugging the soup then?" Bradley asked in an icy voice and a dark look on his face. "Arthur, Lydia, you're amazing. You actually want to ruin my wife's reputation."

"Bradley, you were the one who ordered the soup. How is that any of our business?" Lydia shot the maid a glare. What a fool. I told her to keep an eye on Freya, not get into Arthur's bed.

They would settle this later.

Arthur was not in the mood for schemes. He hated Freya to his very core for tricking him. This darned witch is nothing but trouble.

This won't do. He absolutely had to get rid of her.

Bradley's face was as cold as the ice in his eyes. "True, I ordered for the soup to be served, but Lydia, your servant drugged it."

"Bradley, you can do what you want, but you can't accuse others without proof. When did I ever spike the soup?" Lydia refused to admit to it. Now that Arthur was dragged into the scheme, she was regretting the plan so very much.

"Aunt Lydia, the surveillance cameras would tell us if you ordered someone to spike the soup with a drug."

Just then, a gentle and pleasant voice said behind them. It was James.

His handsome face and gentle features appeared even more attractive in the light's glow.

Freya narrowed her eyes. Why is James here?

Now that he had arrived, Lydia began her act once more.

"James, you're here. That means…"

Lydia shot Freya a meaningful look. Just as she was about to say something to salvage the situation, James showed Owen a laptop.

"You'll know who's the culprit once you look at the surveillance footage."

Owen had taken one look before his faced turned dark. He immediately swung his cane at Arthur.

"Look at what you've done! You had a taste of your own medicine. You deserved this!"

Arthur leaned in to look at the video, and he broke out in a fit of cold sweat.

Shoot. We were filmed scheming.

More importantly, he had fallen for the scheme Lydia had in mind. Bradley was not cheated on while he ended up putting on a show for the family.

Their flawless plan had backfired.

Owen angrily hit him again. "Arthur, you worthless scoundrel!"

"Dad!"

Arthur was so terrified that he got on his knees. "Dad, someone is scheming against us. Lydia and I are the victims here."

"Victims?" That truly infuriated Owen, causing him to show no mercy as he swung the cane down again. "Bradley finally brought Freya back, and your family kept causing trouble. Just how far will you push Arthur?

"Also, you were crazy enough to drag James into this!"

Owen might be old, but he was very healthy. In the end, he had hit Arthur so hard that he coughed out blood.

When Lydia saw that, she hurriedly stopped Owen. "Dad, he is your biological son. Are you really going to beat him to death just for an adopted son?"

Owen had planned to stop after a few hits, but Lydia's words infuriated him once more. Thus, he kept hitting.

"Lydia, on your knees as well."

If not for her tricks, Arthur would not be foolish enough to scheme against his family.

Owen seethed with anger. He should not have let her marry Arthur. Now, the entire family was in chaos.

If he did not harshly punish them today, who knows what they would end up doing? Perhaps they might even commit murder.

"Lydia is a woman, Dad. She can't withstand the beatings."

"She can't?"

Owen's eyes were red with anger as his entire body trembled. "Punish your own wife! If this happens again, I'll kick you and your troublemakers out of this house."

"Dad, I'm sorry. We won't do this again."

"Again?" Owen hit them both another time before saying with a finger pointed angrily at them, "Apologize to Bradley and Freya."

Lydia clenched her jaw in anger while she glared at Freya's and Bradley's smug faces.

Apologize?

She would never apologize to them.

When they did not move, Owen kicked Arthur, forcing him to stumble and fall before Bradley.

Bradley did not even look at Arthur as he turned to Freya.

"The one they should be apologizing to is Freya," he calmly stated.