Chapter 609

Nicole Sterling's pupils contracted sharply.

She understood in an instant.

Her face drained of all color.

"You... you were deceiving me?!"

Evelyn Ross let out a light laugh, but there was no mirth in her eyes.

"Without this performance, how would we know you and the Fox have been colluding all along?"

"Nicole, your intricate plan, one trap within another, was truly painstaking."

Nicole bit her lower lip until it turned white.

She stared at Evelyn, her chest heaving violently.

"Rabbit... you're ruthless."

"I never imagined you could see through it."

"You're utterly despicable!"

Evelyn paid her no further mind.

She turned and left directly with Alexander Vance.

The two headed straight for the Castillo residence.

They relayed Nicole's words verbatim to Elder Anthony Castillo.

Upon hearing it, a cold sweat instantly broke out on the old man's back.

He immediately took them to the hidden medicine vault.

Deep within the vault stood a heavy safe.

Elder Castillo entered the code, and the door clicked open.

Inside, dozens of small, colorful vials were neatly arranged.

They glittered in a myriad of colors, like an exhibition of poisons.

Elder Castillo's voice was grave.

"These are all Seven-Day Powder."

"Different colored bottles are used to distinguish the toxicity."

"Each vial contains the same amount of the drug, but it's not pre-mixed. So, the toxicity of the half ingested is random."

"It must be neutralized by the other half..."

As he spoke, he pulled out the small white vial.

The moment he unscrewed the cap, his fingers froze.

"The vial... has been tampered with."

The powder inside was clearly only half full.

Elder Castillo's expression changed drastically.

"How is this possible?!"

"The safe has never been breached!"

Evelyn looked at the safe.

"Grandfather, what material is this made of?"

"Special alloy. Current technology cannot open it without damage, except through brute force cutting."

"But I check it every day. I've never noticed anything wrong."

Evelyn walked a circle around the safe.

She looked at Alexander.

Alexander reached out and touched the keyhole.

"Mechanical combination lock."

"Electronic locks can be hacked. Mechanical ones rely solely on the code."

"The only one who could tamper with it is someone who knows the code."

Elder Castillo drew a sharp breath.

"Only I know the code."

"Nicole lived here, but she never entered this room."

"Then... the only person who could have tampered with the medicine... is me?"

As he said this, his back was already soaked with cold sweat.

He looked at Evelyn, his eyes filled with belated fear.

"Thank goodness you were alert."

"Otherwise, if something happened to your father, I could never clear my name."

By then, the Castillo and Valentine families would have irrevocably split.

How would Evelyn, caught in the middle, handle it?

He handed the white vial to Evelyn.

"I will investigate thoroughly. Who in this household has access to my bedroom."

There were no cameras in the bedroom.

But the number of people authorized to enter could be counted on one hand.

Evelyn nodded.

"Fortunately, we discovered it in time."

If she hadn't suddenly felt everything was going too smoothly and grown suspicious, Mr. Valentine might already be dead from the poison.

She dared not think of the consequences.

Evelyn took the antidote and hurried back to the Valentine residence with Alexander.

They went upstairs and entered the bedroom.

Mr. Valentine remained unconscious.

Carefully, she took out the powder and fed it to him.

Then she held her breath, staring intently at her father's face.

Alexander saw her tension and gently took her hand.

"Don't be afraid. This antidote must be real."

Evelyn looked up. "Why?"

Alexander's gaze was steady.

"Only if the antidote is real can they frame your grandfather."

"Leaving the Valentine family, and you, with nothing to say."

Evelyn relaxed slightly.

But Mr. Valentine still showed no signs of waking.

She paced back and forth in the bedroom, restless and uneasy.

She couldn't sleep a wink that night.

As dawn approached, she couldn't help but call the family doctor.

"Why hasn't my father woken up yet?"

The family doctor checked Mr. Valentine's vital signs and spoke slowly.

"A healthy person who takes this medicine would wake quickly, as if receiving a tonic."

"But for someone whose health is depleted, the medicine first nourishes and repairs."

"The fact that the master is sleeping so soundly indicates his bodily functions are recovering."

The doctor sighed.

"I've served the master for over thirty years."

"After the mistress left, the master worked himself to the bone, trying to forget."

"Those years, he ruined his health."

"Now, this medicine has ironically become a restorative."

Hearing this, Evelyn looked at her father's sleeping profile.

Her mother, Sophia Ashcroft, was with him back then, and gave birth to her...

Was it just like her grandmother, solely for the Sterling Family inheritance rights?

She pressed her lips together, her heart heavy.

If that were true, could her father accept it?

Did Sophia... ever truly love her father?

Her grandfather could move on because after her grandmother left, he married someone else and lived a stable life.

But her father never remarried.

Could he ever let go?

Evelyn was lost in thought when movement came from the sickbed.

Mr. Valentine began to cough.

He clutched his chest, his body jerking to one side.

"Pfft—"

A mouthful of black blood sprayed out.

Evelyn's pupils constricted violently.

"Dad!!"

She whirled around, her voice trembling.

"Doctor! Come quickly, look at my dad!!"