Hearing the movement, Hannah turned her head and saw Ralph standing behind her. "Did I wake you?"She spoke again when she noticed that he was just numbly standing there. "Well, right on time. Come and take one last look at her before I send her to her death."Heather panted by her bedside for a moment before raising her head and flashing a bloody smile. Her gaze was filled with mockery. This upset Hannah. "Why are you smiling?" "I find your stupidity amusing." As Heather laughed, she continued, "Do you really think he likes you?""Of course!" Hannah spat confidently. She had asked him many times, and his answers were always affirmative—that he loved her. Of course, he loved her! "How ridiculous. Why don't you take a good look in the mirror? Which part of you is worthy of love? Look at yourself. You have nothing but a face like mine!" Heather jeered, scrutinizing Hannah with disdain. "You're not smart, nor are you good at kickboxing. After doing a few simple things, do you r
This was an idea Hannah came up with on the spot.After living under Heather's shadow ever since Hannah was a child, she had a natural fear of Heather. Although Hannah wanted to use poison to kill Heather slowly, she did not dare do it herself.On top of that, this was her chance to get a hold of Ralph. Her fear of him leaving was so strong that she wanted to use this chance to lock him in. This way, she would never be afraid of him leaving again. It was essentially killing two birds with one stone."Annie…" Ralph was hesitant. He didn't dare to do it."What's wrong? Are you reluctant?" Hannah jeered, feigning anger. “In all this time, you've never loved me, right? It's her that you love! That's why you can't bear to do it, right?" "No, Annie, I love you. Of course, I love you! It's just that…" In his hand, the warm bowl of concoction felt scorching hot. He wanted to toss it away.In the face of his hesitation, Hannah coaxed softly, "I know you're reluctant, but I've had everyth
‘That’s right. Annie asked me to do it so she would have something to hold against me, right? If I do as she said, I will be a murderer, and she will have evidence of it for the rest of my life. She could threaten me with it whenever I go against her wishes.’Ralph recalled the incident from a few days ago and how crazy Hannah could get occasionally. He felt suffocated by the thought of obeying her for the rest of his life.He turned around and said to Hannah, “Annie, why don’t we just forget about this? She’s still your sister, after all! What about we just send her back to the Riggs Estate? Your parents live on the island, don’t they? We can get them to lock her up on the island too.“Also, don’t you think we’re going too easy on her by letting her die so easily? We should let her suffer from all the pain you went through before as well!”“Are you nuts?” Hannah became furious all of a sudden. “Don’t you know that my parents would only help her if we sent her back to the island? T
The two were startled and loosened their grasps subconsciously while Heather took the chance to swing her hand toward the bowl, causing it to fall to the ground and scatter into fragments everywhere. “What the f*ck are you guys doing?! Do you want me to kill you?!” Hannah returned to her senses and walked out furiously as she rebuked. She thought it was her people that caused the commotion. However, Hannah felt a strong wind when she reached the door. With a pain in her chest, she flew back into the basement.Bang! Hannah dropped to the ground with a thud.“Annie?!” Ralph was shocked when he saw Hannah returning to the basement in such a way. He ran over to help her up, and just as he looked out the door, he felt suffocated and sent flying backward alongside Hannah this time around.They were in a small room, so there was not much space. Hence, the duo’s backs smashed into a wall, scraping dust off it before falling to the ground again. The room became dusty instantly.“Cough! Co
Hannah and Ralph panicked when they saw Heather standing up. Their fear of Heather had taken root in their hearts, after all.When Heather was lying in bed, unable to move and dying, the duo still feared her a little, let alone now when she could stand before them. “No! It’s impossible!” Hannah did not want to believe what she was seeing. She thought her plan was perfect and had everything under control. Hannah thought she had secured her victory, so she would not believe it if anyone told her she had lost.“Chump, do you think you can fool me with that nonsense?” Hannah smiled forcefully and continued, “You wish you could intimidate me so easily! It would take you longer than this to return to the Riggs’ Estate and get reinforcements. You’re just bluffing, aren’t you? My people will rush inside and take you down as soon as I call for them. I’d advise you to run for your life before I change my mind! I can let you off the hook if you walk away now.”“You’re the one bluffing here,”
“No, that can’t be it!” Hannah shook her head, frowning in disapproval. “If she wasn’t poisoned, why didn’t she fight back when I slapped her? With that temper of hers, she wouldn’t be able to endure it! She must have been pretending to be fine earlier! I swear she’s poisoned!”“But just now, did you see…” Ralph's gaze was drawn to the broken bedframe. The truth was right in front of them. If Heather were poisoned, she would not have the strength to break the bedframe. “I can guarantee you that she’s just pretending to be poisoned. In the deal I had with her, I was supposed to be the one to steal the secret handbook, but she did it herself in the end. Think about it. She’s so cautious, so how could she not realize that you were going to poison her? I’m sure that she was just pretending because she has some other ulterior motives!”“What kind of ulterior motives could she have?” Hannah immediately responded with a question.“Well…” Ralph did not know what to say.If he had known,
Upon returning to her room, Heather started to cough continuously. It was serious, and it sounded like she could not suppress it at all. Chump stood by her side, not knowing what to do. Finally, he went out to get a glass of water for her, and when he returned, he saw her spitting out another mouthful of blood again.After that, Heather seemed to be in a slightly better condition. With Chump’s support, she sat down on her bed and leaned on the bedframe. She took the glass of water from Chump, but her face had no color.“Ms. Riggs…” Chump was worried sick.Initially, he thought that Heather was alright and that she had everything under control. However, that was not the case. “I didn’t expect she would have the guts to do this.” Heather took a breath and looked up at the ceiling, a wry smile plastered on her face. "I'd let my guard down against her over the years, and I'd never been wary of her."Heather could not describe how she was feeling right now. She had always disdained
“You don’t have any appetite these days. Are you too tired?” Alexander asked. “What about skipping the hospital visit later? My aunt is there, and the maids are there too, which is more than enough to take care of grandma. She'll also be released from the hospital in a few days.”“Can she be discharged with her condition?”“The doctor said it’s fine. With her condition, she doesn’t need to stay in the hospital because she’s not ill. She’s just old now.” After the incident the other day, Alexander could talk about Margaret’s condition calmly. After all, there was too much he had to face and too many things he needed to do. He could not let his emotions control him.Lily nodded. “Then I won’t go to the hospital in the next few days. I’ll visit Grandma once she returns home.”She was indeed slightly tired. Rubbing her temples, she said, “There’s something I want to discuss with you.”“Yeah?” Alexander looked into her eyes seriously, preparing to listen to whatever she had to say.
Lily tilted her head up to fight back her tears, saying, “There’s something I find strange.”“What is it?” Mike asked after comforting his son.“Instead of detaining Prince Ross, Her Majesty has sent him back to Yudonia. If so, why couldn’t we reach him?”After some thought, Mike answered, “There are two possibilities. It’s probably due to poor signals, or he doesn’t want us to contact him.”The two shared a look, knowing what each other was wondering.‘Why can’t we contact Ross? Is he planning something?’…Three days later, Lily inserted the last needle into the queen’s leg and looked up at her, saying, “You should start feeling your legs tomorrow. Still, it’ll take some time before you can stand.”Suddenly, Lily chuckled.“Why are you laughing?” Yasmin touched her legs. She had begun to regain sensation in her legs over the last two days. She then began to believe that she could get up. However, the queen was hesitant when the queen heard Lily chuckle.Lily shook her head
Lily straightened up and said without resentment, “Of course, you wouldn’t.”“That’s… quite a pity,” the queen murmured thoughtfully.“Well, there’s a price to pay for everything. That’s how the world balances itself,” Lily continued, “I can’t stop you if you must carry on with R10. Still, I won’t witness whether or not it succeeds. I just wish the outcome isn’t something you’ll regret.”Lily smiled and turned to head out the door.Rick heard their conversation as he stood guard outside. After exchanging looks with Lily as she brushed past him, he entered the room and saw the needles in Yasmin’s legs. “Your Majesty, those needles—”The queen waved dismissively. “It’s okay. Lily will remove them later.”Even so, Rick was wary. “You’re being too careless, Your Majesty. What if that woman—”“She wouldn’t,” Yasmin interjected, shaking her head."Why do you trust her so much?" Rick asked despite himself. The queen fell silent. If Rick had not asked her that, she would not have rea
Lily took out a cloth and unfolded it, revealing a row of silver needles inside. Yasmin was surprised she carried the needles with her.“Tell me. What do you want?” The queen took a deep breath to calm herself. She then reminded herself that she could always say no to Lily’s request. Still, Yasmin was cautious about Lily trying to trick her.Lily casually said, "I left because Prince Ross wanted to help me. I hope you don’t punish him.""That's it?" Yasmin thought she had misheard Lily. 'Is she trying to talk terms with me just so that I won't punish my son?' she wondered in disbelief."Ross is my son. I won't harm him. Don't you think you've wasted an opportunity by making such a request?" The queen shook her head. "I wasn’t sure if you’d blame him, but he did rescue me once. If I don't do anything, it would be ungrateful of me," Lily said gently, "Also, didn’t you already lock him up?"Yasmin was puzzled. "No, I only sent him back to Yudonia. He kept trying to get me to sto
"Three days," Lily replied.“That’s it?!” Yasmin was in disbelief. She thought Lily would try to buy some more time and suspected she would say the process would take several months or even years.‘I haven’t felt my legs for over a decade. I wouldn’t mind waiting for three more days.’“Are you sure I can get up and walk in just three days?” Yasmin pressed her legs hard but felt nothing. She would have treated her legs long ago if it were that easy.The queen had visited many famous doctors from various countries, but they could only stop her legs from getting weaker. However, Lily confidently told Yasmin that she could fix her legs so quickly.Yasmin wanted to believe it.After some consideration, Lily said, “I can’t guarantee that you’ll walk as fast as you once could. After all, you haven’t used your legs for a long time, and your muscles have atrophied. Still, you’ll recover slowly.”Yasmin nodded repeatedly, thinking it was good enough. She never dreamed of walking as well a
“Because only our opinions matter." Lily thought of something and said, "Unless you choose to believe Rhea.""I… don't trust anyone." Yasmin’s expression stiffened as she turned her wheelchair away."Your Majesty, I know you're dedicated to the experiment, but there are other things in life. Have you ever considered letting go of your burden to sightsee? You’ve done enough as a queen over the last few decades. Aren’t you tired of living a lonely life?”Lily gently spoke as she gazed at Yasmin’s back.The older woman caressed her knees with both hands and stared down at her legs, murmuring, “Sightsee, huh? I’ve forgotten what that’s like.”Yasmin had not used her legs for many years. Initially, she could still stand up and sometimes took a few steps. However, she could no longer get to her feet.She had grown accustomed to sitting in a wheelchair, but she felt a pang of sorrow after hearing Lily’s suggestion.Lily asked, “What if I can help you stand again? What if you can walk a
"Yes, I returned not just for him but also for you," Lily said, "I'm sure you were anxious for my return, weren't you?"Yasmin scoffed dismissively. "Why would I be? I have my bargaining chip. Besides, did you honestly think I couldn’t bring you back?""Bargaining chip? Do you mean Nick?" Lily shook her head with a smile. "Don't forget that he's not my son. Do you think he'll be much of a bargaining chip to you if I choose to ignore him for my three children?"She did not wait for Yasmin to reply and continued, "Besides, Nick still has a father who’s willing to die for him. If Mike decides to take drastic action against you— Yes, you're a queen, and you don't care much about an insignificant businessman.“However, don't forget that his business spans worldwide. There's no guarantee what he might do. Who knows, he might spread information that can affect Your Majesty and Yudonia's reputation?""You…" The queen was exasperated but could not retort.Lily noticed it and casually said
Rick could only remain silent at that moment.Yasmin then turned her wheelchair around and blandly said, “Bring Lily over. I’d like to see what excuses that sly woman can come up with.”"Your Majesty?" Rick was puzzled. "You know she'll just lie to you. Why must you—"Yasmin interjected, "I'd like to hear what she has to say."Rick had no choice but to leave and do as she said.As Lily was about to doze off, she heard noises from outside and opened her eyes. Immediately after, the door opened, and Rick appeared. He glared at her and spoke coldly, “Her Majesty wants to see you.”Lily glanced at Rick calmly and stood up as if she had expected his appearance. On the other hand, Mike rose before her and headed out.However, Rick stopped him as he reached the door. “You stay.”"But we came together!" Mike glanced over his shoulder at Lily, signaling her to persuade the man. Rick added, "The queen doesn’t wish to see you. Just stay here!"Lily patted Mike's shoulder and said gentl
Everyone was shocked when Lily returned to the embassy with Mike. One of the staff members quickly left to report the news to Queen Yasmin.Meanwhile, Lily saw people peering at her and Mike from the corner. Afterward, several guarded-looking men appeared. Lilt recognized them as the queen’s attendants. They brought Mike and Lily inside and then gave the duo a thorough search.The men only relaxed after finding nothing suspicious about the duo. Even so, Lily could not see the queen as the men told her to wait in an innermost room instead.After returning to the embassy, Lily felt a sense of strange familiarity. Although she knew the place well, her mindset had changed.She previously hated the embassy and simply wanted to escape. However, she had returned with a critical mission. Not only did she have to complete it, but she also needed to leave the place in one piece.While she was calm, Mike was somewhat anxious. He clasped his hands on his knees and glanced around as he sat dow
"I promise I'll do anything you want, okay?" Mike begged. He was desperate to see his son, so he decided to follow Lily when she insisted on returning to the embassy.Mike continued, “If any of you go with her, they might stop or suspect you. They won’t do that to me. It’s natural for me to want to see and rescue my son. I’m the best candidate because it makes sense for me to sacrifice myself for him.”After a short silence, Lily said, “You’re right.” She then looked at Alexander, who pondered before slowly raising his head and saying, “Me too.”Dominic tapped the table. "So do I."Cameron thought for a moment before saying, "I've no objections."Seeing this, Austin spread his arms and said, "Since you all agree, what else can I say? Let's do it!"It did not matter whether or not he agreed, but he just wanted to support Mike. The latter nodded and became emotional, saying, “Thanks, you guys!”"Why are you thanking us? Just be careful, and don’t be rash like you promised," Aust