A fight would reveal a guilty conscience, while acting as if nothing had happened would only put her back in the position of being led around by the nose by Russell.
Athena frowned for a moment, then suddenly came to her senses. She crushed Russell's infuriating face in her mind and coldly put away the Victory Spear. "The Sun God has impressive methods. If I'm not mistaken, Artemis was deceived by you in exactly this way."
"There you go again. I told you, just call me by name. This goddess changed her face faster than turning a page."
Russell muttered under his breath, making sure Athena heard every word clearly. He said bluntly, "That's right. I did use a few little tricks on Artemis."
Athena said nothing. She wanted to hear what crooked scheme Russell had used to fool Artemis into throwing herself into his arms.
At the side, Pamecate held her breath and silently labeled Russell a scumbag. Like her mistress Athena, she was curious and pricked up her ears to eavesdrop, lest she encounter the wrong sort of man in the future.
"It was simple. I told Artemis that, for her sake, I rejected Aphrodite's advances."
"That's it? What else?"
Athena pressed him. She and Aphrodite had arrived at the Temple of the God of Fire and the Divine Realm one after the other, so she knew Russell was telling the truth. He had indeed rejected Aphrodite's confession.
On that point, Athena gave him an objective assessment. She admitted that Russell was far better than the gods on Divine Mountain, whose private lives were a complete mess. It counted as one of his few virtues.
But that did not mean Russell had no interest in women. It only proved that he was deeply calculating and knew how to