Find me in your labyrinth (Stella and Jonathan) novel Chapter 3437

The moment Marina stepped inside, her grandmother's sharp voice echoed from the living room. "Rhiannon, is Marina really that busy with work? She doesn't even come home on weekends, and she hasn't even bothered to visit Phoebe in the hospital!"

The tone was dripping with blame.

"Phoebe went way too far this time," Rhiannon defended softly. "She really hurt Marina."

Her grandmother snapped back immediately. "There were a lot of inconsistencies with what happened that day. You're the elder here, yet you lied about recognizing Phoebe's alternate WhatsApp account! Since Phoebe is in the hospital, your father and I decided not to press the issue."

Rhiannon sounded guilty but stood her ground. "I may have lied, but Phoebe is the one who set that whole thing up."

"Phoebe already explained herself," her grandmother insisted. "She lost that phone number a long time ago. Someone hacked into her old account to frame her and stir up trouble in this family!"

Marina stood in the hallway, her face turning pale with fury. She wanted to storm in and argue, but what was the point? Her grandmother was choosing to believe Phoebe's flimsy, loophole-ridden excuses. It was pure, unfiltered favoritism.

Arguing would be a complete waste of breath.

Without stepping into the living room, she turned on her heel and headed straight upstairs, gripping the cake box tightly.

Out on the second-floor terrace, Marina set the box down on a small table. She ripped it open, grabbed a fork, and angrily took a massive bite of the sweet frosting.

When Rhiannon finally came upstairs, she found Marina aggressively shoving spoonfuls of cake into her mouth.

"When did you get back?" Rhiannon asked, startled.

Marina nearly choked. Rhiannon quickly grabbed a bottle of water and handed it to her.

After taking a long gulp, Marina wheezed out, "Right around the time Grandma was busy covering for Phoebe's lies!"

Rhiannon sighed, taking a seat next to her. "Your grandmother is just trying to protect the Evert family's reputation. If word gets out about what really happened, it won't just be Phoebe who's ruined. The whole family will become a laughingstock."

Marina pushed the untouched half of the cake toward her mother. "I bought this for you. Eat it."

Rhiannon let out a soft laugh. "Why did you buy me a birthday cake?"

"It's just a regular cake. I saw it, I bought it," Marina muttered.

Summer Carlyle shouted over the music. "When are you finally going to bring this fiancé of yours out so we can meet him?"

"Exactly!" Trixie Bell chimed in. "It's been so long, and you've kept him totally under wraps. What's the big secret?"

All they knew was that Marina had gotten engaged shortly after her messy breakup with Freddy. She hadn't even invited them to the engagement dinner.

They had heard rumors about the elusive Mr. Foster, but neither had ever seen his face.

He had made headlines a few times for various scandals, but his face was always blurred out, and the articles were scrubbed from the internet almost immediately. To the general public, the Foster family heir was practically a ghost.

Marina waved a hand dismissively. "He's got a nose and two eyes. He's just like any other guy. There's really nothing to talk about."

Summer knew this was an arranged marriage forced by Marina's family, one that Marina clearly had no interest in. Since the engagement was being kept so quiet, she took the hint and dropped the subject.

When Marina slipped away to the restroom, Trixie leaned over to Summer. "Let's stop bringing up her fiancé from now on."