Chapter 144: The Court Case VII
"I think he heard wrong."
"Of course he heard wrong! The man is as foolish as ever. Fiona has washed all wisdom away from his brain."
"Maybe he never even spoke with the hacker. Perhaps he just made this up to smear Athena in front of the elders. Fiona really suits him."
Ewan tuned them out. Their aggravated words were like piercing darts puncturing his skull. He longed to cover his ears or hold his head to block out their incessant chatter, but he was in court, and he needed to maintain his composure. He couldn’t appear weak!
But Athena bobbed her head, glancing at Elder Timothy. "What do you think?"
Elder Timothy, however, remained silent. His expression, though, betrayed his thoughts. Did Ewan come to the council to play games?
"About the backer Ewan mentioned..." Athena sighed, feigning weariness. "He is just an old friend who owed me a favor. Because of Ewan, I collected that debt, believing I was doing something good, not realizing he’d come to court and stab me in the back!"
If not for the elders’ presence, Ewan might have been pelted with slippers by now.
Elder Timothy, seeing the brewing anger in the congregation, sighed in resignation; he couldn’t allow things to descend into chaos. After all, Ewan’s father had once been his friend before his tragic death.
"Is that all, Athena?"
Athena paused, staring thoughtfully at the old man before breaking into laughter. "Is that all? Oh no, Elder Timothy. I’m just getting started!"