Of course, apart from the main eyewitnesses, the owner of Boya Pavilion also listened to the accounts of the other staff members who knew about what happened. Hence, everyone soon got a clear idea of what actually happened. Due to the fact that the waitress who served the snacks to Wen Xinya had made a mistake, Wen Xinya fortunately managed to escape the ordeal while Lin Yingxin became the victim of the jimsonweed.
Everyone had no idea if they should say that Lin Yingxin was unlucky or if she had deserved it.
However, Xia Ruya was very cunning and since no one saw her spiking the snacks and tea, all of their accounts could not quite serve as concrete evidence.
A concrete set of evidence would require an eyewitness and physical evidence. However, there was no eyewitness.
Xia Ruya would definitely be able to get herself out of trouble during normal circumstances.
However, after Wen Xinya splashed the wine on Xia Ruya’s face, everyone could tell that Xia Ruya was the culprit. All of the statements of the staff and the rest of the evidence pointed towards Xia Ruya. Hence, everyone was sure that she was the culprit.
The owner of Boya Pavilion had no choice but to come up with a final explanation for the matter. Even though there was no eyewitness, the statements alone were enough to prove that Xia Ruya was the one who did it.
Besides, everyone had also understood that no one else except Xia Ruya had the chance to enter the kitchen and pantry. If the owner did not put the blame on Xia Ruya, she would have to bear the responsibility and shoulder the blame. She could not afford to taint the reputation of Boya Pavilion by taking on the crime of poisoning her customers.
No amount of explaining would help Xia Ruya get out of trouble.
The owner stared at Xia Ruya in disbelief with a heavy heart. “Ruya, even if everyone here thought that you’re the culprit, I still trusted you and I also thought of defending you because you’re a pure and kindhearted girl. I even thought of nurturing you as my successor, but… you’re just too disappointing.”
Xia Ruya sprawled herself across the ground and began snorting with laughter. She sounded extremely cold and sarcastic. “I didn’t poison the food, so don’t think of putting the blame on me.”
Given how intelligent Xia Ruya was, she obviously knew that the owner was just trying to push all the blame to her so as to get herself out of trouble and avoid staining Boya Pavilion’s reputation. No matter how well one might treat you, they would not hesitate to go against you and even stab you when their personal interests were involved. That was human nature.
The owner closed her eyes slowly in agony. When she opened her eyes again, there was a sudden iciness in her gaze. “Now that things have come to this, you’re still so muddled up and unrepentant.”
She actually did not feel too guilty about pushing the blame to Xia Ruya. After all, Boya Pavilion really wasn’t involved in her plan.
Xia Ruya raised her head to reveal her face, on which there were red scratches intertwined around each other, making her look extremely terrifying. “I wasn’t wrong, so why do I have to be repentant? Since you guys have said that I’m the culprit, show me the evidence. Don’t… just make false accusations and pin me as the culprit. I can’t tolerate it.”
No one could prove that she was the one who had spiked the snacks and drinks. Hence, she would never admit that she was the one who had done it. Regardless of whether she would get a chance to make a comeback in the future, it would forever be a stain in her life once she admitted to it.
At this juncture, no one would believe that Xia Ruya was not the culprit even if she did not admit it.
That was the most impressive thing about Xia Ruya. She was good at explaining and defending herself with unreasonable excuses, and even if she was at her wits’ end, she would somehow manage to find a way to get herself out of trouble.
Now that it was confirmed that Xia Ruya had spiked the snacks and tea, Xia Ruya could still play the victim and insist that she had been maligned. After all… they indeed only had physical evidence and no eyewitness. Hence, even if someone accused her again in the future, she would have the right to rebut their claim. She would never let anyone have solid evidence against her that would make it impossible for her to make a comeback.
The owner smiled and said, “Ruya, you still don’t get it. Not everything in this world requires evidence. I didn’t look further into this, not because I can’t find any other evidence, but rather because I’m not willing to continue investigating. Finding evidence for everything is something the police would do. I’m not willing to put you in such a predicament, but did you really think that your plan was seamless?”
The owner’s words made Xia Ruya’s body turn weak. “I didn’t spike the tea and food…”
The owner glared at her coldly and said, “I have some ties with your family and I also promised your grandfather that I would take care of you while you’re studying in Capital city. Yet, you actually had the audacity to poison someone during my gala and disrupt the order of the event. You even broke the rules and insulted Boya Pavilion’s reputation. I’ll let this matter slide on the account of your grandfather. However, from now on, you’ll be blacklisted. You’d better stop.”
The owner’s way of handling the matter was justified and hence, no one had any objections.
Being informed that she had been blacklisted in front of everyone was a huge blow to Xia Ruya, for she was the first and only person who had ever been punished for doing something wrong during the Heiress’ Gala.
Xia Ruya might never be able to hold her head high again from now on.
The owner then said, “Something so terrible happened today during the gala and I’m very sorry to have caused you guys to be frightened. Although all of these happened because of Xia Ruya’s selfishness, it was also because of our negligence and failure to ensure stricter regulations. I’ve also trusted the wrong person. Thus, I hereby apologize on behalf of Boya Pavilion.”
The owner sounded rather sincere and hence, the rest of the ladies did not have any objections. After all, Xia Ruya was the one who had spiked the drinks and tea and the owner had already gotten to the bottom of the truth, punished Xia Ruya and apologized to everyone.
The owner heaved a sigh of relief and continued, “In order to express my apology, I’ll be issuing a membership card to each and every one of you. The card will entitle you guys to a 70% discount on all your purchases from Boya Pavilion.”
Everyone got extremely agitated after hearing her words. Boya Pavilion was an antique business and there was a plethora of paintings, brushes, jade objects, zithers, chess boards, and gold jewelry, all of which were of superior quality. With the membership discount, they would be standing to gain a huge advantage.
Even Wen Xinya could not help but be amazed by her generosity.
