“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 had met Chump twice before. She knew he was always with Heather and a hidden kickboxing master. Although he tried to hide his vitality, she could still sense the ability he had as a skilled kickboxer. Still, Lily only had a faint impression of him because he was not always around.“Mr. Russell,” Chump stepped forward and greeted respectfully. Then he looked at Lily and said, “Mrs. Russell, Ms. Riggs has invited you to come over tomorrow.”That stunned Lily. “Me?”Initially, she thought Chump was here for Alexander, so it surprised her that Heather had invited her too. Alexander felt the same as well.“Only her?” Alexander asked.There was a hidden meaning behind his question. He meant to ask if Heather was inviting the two of them. Even if she was to invite only one of them, inviting Alexander seemed more plausible.After all, she would communicate directly with Alexander regarding business or other things. There was little Heather and Lily could discuss besides kickboxing,
After some thought, Lily turned to look at Chump again, but her gaze looked more determined this time. “Okay, I’ll be there! Tell Ms. Riggs I’ll be there at 10, and I’ll be on time.”Upon getting Lily’s confirmation, Chump’s blank face showed a hint of relief as he lowered his head respectfully. “We’ll be expecting you, Mrs. Russell.”“Li…” Alexander was about to say something, but Lily stopped him again by pressing her hand on his as she shook her head.He suppressed his urge and waited until Chump left to ask, “Why did you agree to meet with her? What if she has a trap set up for you or tries to trick you again? It’s best if you don’t meet up with her tomorrow.”“If she were the past Heather, it’d be difficult for me to deal with her, but don’t forget she’s no longer the same Heather she used to be,” Lily smiled, saying those words, which sounded like a tongue twister.Alexander understood that “Heather” could not combat at all now and that she posed no threat to Lily. However,
“What’s there to fear about death?” Hannah smiled nonchalantly. “I feel happy that I can die alongside you! Do you know I used to be afraid of dying? I didn’t want to die because I didn’t want to become the child my parents abandoned, but it’s different now. I have you, and it’s enough to be by your side. Dying with you would be a beautiful thing in my life too.”Hannah expressed her feelings while she looked at Ralph gently, her eyes filled with adoration for the man.However, her words only made him frown deeper, and he could not help but say, “Annie, don’t think about this situation that way! If we could survive, why should we choose to die? Death is scary, so we should try our best to live.“When we’re alive, we can breathe fresh air, eat delicious food, and drink all the wine we want. There’s hope as long as we’re alive, and who knows? One day we might be able to turn the tides, right? Life is a cycle, and there’s only hope for us if we stay alive!”Hannah shook her head and r
Chump snorted. “Aren’t you going to drink too?”“I’ll drink it! I’ll drink! I’m so thirsty!” Ralph nodded fervently before he asked again, “Did you bring any food? I’m starving!”That earned him a sneer and nothing else from Chump, who continued to feed him water. Ralph was extremely thirsty and opened his mouth eagerly to drink, but when he tasted the water, he found it did not taste right. It was salt water, and it was the kind that tasted like they poured a whole packet of salt into the water.He refused to drink it in an instant and wanted to turn his head away to avoid the bowl coming into contact with his lips, but Chump could not let that happen. His resistance made Chump grab his chin, forcing him to open his mouth as Chump poured the bowl of concentrated salt water down his throat. “Cough! Cough!” It choked him, causing him to cough incessantly to the point of tears. It was salty yet bitter at the same time. Disgusted, he wanted to puke, but nothing came out as he had not
“You’re just saying it.” Hannah expressed her disappointment, knowing he was distracted. “Dude, what makes you think I’m in the mood to talk about that right now? We’re going to die soon! Do you know what death is? If we’re dead, then we’ll have nothing! You’ve worked so hard since you were young, so why would you give up now? You can’t die, and I can’t as well!” Ralph roared impatiently.“Are you that afraid of dying?” Hannah asked with a raised brow.Ralph did not hesitate at all. “Of course I am! I’m scared as h*ll! I don’t want to die, and I want to keep living. My life is great, so why would I want to die?”Hannah nodded in an exceptionally calm manner. “Okay. I got it.”He could sense that her tone was somewhat off, but he paid no attention to it because he was miserable. He was starving, his stomach was gurgling, and his body was in pain and exhausted. On top of that, his throat felt like it was on fire. He decided just to stay silent and save his energy.The night went b