No one in the crowd doubted Byron Thorne’s words in the slightest. Nor did they stop to wonder why a scare from yesterday had taken a full day to take effect. They became righteously indignant and began speaking ill of Phoenix Golding, despite having had a rather good impression of her before.

The Thorne family had always stuck together. If a Golding wronged a Thorne, the Thornes were bound to condemn them. The relationship between the Thorne and Golding families had always been delicate. Ordinarily, they were on friendly enough terms, but as soon as a matter of principle was at stake, the two families would immediately draw a clear line in the sand.

This was also why, despite living in the same village, there were few marriages between the Thornes and the Goldings. For the most part, their daughters married men from other villages, and their sons took wives from elsewhere. This dynamic had also been a factor in why the marriage between Phoenix Golding and Felix Thorne never came to be.

"Phoenix Golding always seemed like a decent person. I never would have guessed she was like this. You really can’t tell," an auntie remarked, her tone one of genuine surprise.

She wasn’t the only one; Raina was surprised too. ’My impression of Phoenix Golding used to be so good,’ she reflected. ’She was a sweet talker, knew how to handle people, and was beautiful to boot. Plus, she was a local girl, someone whose background we knew inside and out. Back when my eldest son was courting her, I was all for it, but my husband was dead set against it, so the relationship fizzled out. I was quite disappointed at the time.’

What’s more, after all these years of being at loggerheads with her daughter-in-law, Phoebe Huxley, she found herself reminiscing more and more about Phoenix Golding’s better qualities.

’Of course, that good impression had been all but destroyed by the dozens of pounds of pork they’d taken over the years. Watching them eat our family’s pork pained me more than if they’d been gnawing on my own flesh. Add to that the fact that Phoenix Golding hit my granddaughter... how could a fiercely protective grandmother like me possibly still like Phoenix Golding?’

’Nowadays, I just see Phoenix as lazy and loose. Phoebe Huxley is better by comparison. Even though I’m not entirely satisfied with Phoebe either, at least she’s hardworking and proper. She’s fertile, a capable hand both at home and at work, and even earns as many work points as a man. Of course, if she were just a little more frugal and had a gentler temper, I’d be even happier with her.’

"So is Phoenix Golding really having an affair? Is it true about her and Verna’s husband, Aurelia?" the auntie asked with a suggestive waggle of her eyebrows. Everyone else immediately pricked up their ears.

Salacious gossip never fails to draw a crowd, especially in a remote mountain village. With no other form of entertainment, people had little to do but pass the time by trading rumors of sordid affairs and nitpicking the lives of their neighbors.

"Of course it’s true! I’m from Xavier Village originally, and everyone there knows about it. That bastard Storm Xavier and Verna haven’t shared a bed in over ten years! He’s a healthy man in his prime who doesn’t do a lick of work, day or night. All that pent-up energy has to go somewhere, and some woman has to be the target. It’s that slut Phoenix Golding. It has to be!"

Phoebe Huxley said all this with undisguised glee, though in truth, she was exaggerating. Phoenix Golding was very discreet about her affair, and few people in Xavier Village actually knew about it; most only had their suspicions. But as the saying goes, you have to catch them in the act, and no one in Xavier Village had ever done so. Without proof, even the most suspicious villagers were reluctant to make baseless accusations.

Still, some busybodies gossiped about it in secret. Phoebe Huxley herself hadn’t known anything about it until a short while ago, when she’d gone back to her family’s home for a wedding reception and happened to overhear people vaguely discussing it. She hadn’t yet had a chance to spread the rumor around her own village before her daughter’s incident occurred.

Fueled by old grudges and new resentment, Phoebe Huxley had thrown caution to the wind and blurted it all out, embellishing it for good measure. She claimed Phoenix Golding had only become a teacher by sleeping her way into the position—and as it happened, this wild accusation was a shot in the dark that had hit the mark.