Dear Ex-wife Marry Me novel (Maja) novel Chapter 2225

Athena turned her gaze to Lily, who was still kneeling on the floor, sweat pouring down her face in heavy droplets.

A faint, bitter smile tugged at the corner of Athena’s lips. “Back in high school, I was bullied—badly. The ringleader was Maggie, and Lily here was her little sidekick. They tore up my clothes, snapped photos, and used them to threaten me. I was just an ordinary kid from a regular family, and after my parents and younger brother died in a car accident, I was all alone. Facing that kind of torment, I was completely lost. Every time, their cruelty escalated. Locking me in the restroom was the least of it; they forced me to kiss strangers, spread rumors about my so-called ‘promiscuity,’ made sure everywhere I went, people whispered behind my back. But I never did anything wrong. I begged them on my knees to stop, but Maggie never let up. She only got worse. Once, she tried to slash my face—if someone hadn’t come just in time, she would have done it.”

Her voice was steady, but there were moments when she paused, the memories weighing on her.

The people in the room exchanged uneasy glances. In their world, these things could usually be brushed aside—just throw enough money at the problem, and it goes away.

But to have it all dragged out at a wedding, in front of everyone, was like having the last shred of dignity torn away.

Maggie snapped, her composure shattering. “You’re lying! Grandma, she’s lying!”

Athena closed her eyes, clutching the corner of Tyler’s suit jacket for support.

“If you think I’m lying, you can check with my old high school. Back then, you were the queen bee, Maggie, with your entourage trailing behind. No one in the school dared to cross you. Even if someone saw what you did to me, they looked the other way. The teachers were terrified of your family’s influence, so they stayed silent. I even went to the police once, but your family swept it all under the rug. I tried to end my own life—more than once. The scars are still here.”

She raised her wrist. Faint, silvery lines traced across her skin—old wounds, but still visible.

Tyler had known about Athena’s suicide attempts, but he’d never imagined she’d suffered all this in high school.

So the person who stopped Maggie from scarring her face…was that Kerwin?

Suddenly, Tyler felt a cold, sinking fear. He realized he’d lost—lost completely.

“Speak!”

That single word nearly made Lily faint.

She began to grovel, her forehead thudding against the hardwood. “I’ll tell you! It’s true—all of it’s true! But I didn’t mean to, I just…I just went along with Maggie. She wanted to hurt Athena, not me! I didn’t know what I was doing back then; I was just a stupid kid. Maggie wanted Athena gone, so we bullied her. It wasn’t my fault—please, please, have mercy!”

Lily confessed everything in a frantic rush, her forehead slamming into the floor again and again.

At that moment, nothing else mattered. She just wanted to escape, but Grandma Edith’s icy glare pinned her in place, making her feel faint with terror.