Chapter 457

The three others stood agape.

“Thaddeus, it’s been twenty years, where could you get the evidence?!” Evadne seized the man’s hand.

Thaddeus interlaced his fingers with hers, his voice hoarse and deep, “Remember when I told you I went to track down that maid who used to work for my mom?”

The woman nodded obediently.

“People often have a premonition when disaster looms. Before Elspeth met her end; the maid seemed to sense danger. Gordon sent someone caught her in time, and then, well, I had to resort to certain measures.”

Thaddeus took a deep breath and continued, “In a state of sheer panic, to save her son, she revealed some truths, things not even mentioned in that recording, the real truth.”

He was innately good–hearted. If it hadn’t been a dire necessity, why would he use a kid’s life as a leverage to coerce, to threaten, to become a merciless fiend?

Evadne believed that even if the maid had remained obstinate, Thaddeus would not have harmed her son. He couldn’t do it. If he had, how would he be any different from Avery?

“My mom was killed by Elspeth. It was Elspeth who poisoned her with her own hands,” Thaddeus’s eyes were rimmed with red, struggling to contain the surging waves of hatred, making his hand, held tightly by Evadne, as cold as a block of ice.

“Poisoned with her own hands?!” Arnold and Aaron were so shocked their faces stiffened.

Gordon swayed as if he had been struck by a heavy blow! Evadne’s throat tightened, the air seemed thin, and her chest felt crushed by a massive stone.

Anyone else would have gone mad, but because Thaddeus had not, the calmer he remained, the more her heart ached.

“Mr. Abernathy, what in the world happened then?” Aaron pressed urgently.

“The maid confessed that she had indeed followed Elspeth’s orders to switch out my mom’s depression medication, but she replaced it with harmless vitamins that wouldn’t be fatal. However, during that time, maybe Elspeth sensed my mom and Frederic’s relationship thawing. Afraid of complications, she switched the harmless pills with a poison. Taken in small doses daily, it would accumulate and cause a heart attack, sudden death,” Thad’s broad shoulders trembled as he uttered each word, each syllable laced with ice and bone–deep hatred.

Tears welled up in Evadne’s eyes, her soft hand gently stroking his back.

“How did the maid know all these details?” Arnold, the prosecutor, eager for information, questioned.

“She saw it.”

Thaddeus clenched Evadne’s hand as if only through this tangible touch could he remain composed, “She said, two days before my mom’s fall, she realized Elspeth would sneak back in to switch the pills again after she had done so, without ever mentioning it to her, and she dared not ask.“–

died of heart failure, the maid handling her medication would have been taken

“By then it wouldn’t matter what the maid said because she was in charge of the medication; she made the switch, and she would have to bear the blame

back, so she could only continue down that dark path.” Thaddeus paused, his handsome face growing paler, “But on the day of the incident, there

then she caught Elspeth in the act of switching the medication?” Evadne’s heart sank drastically.

was so

can catch up on all that lost

maid said she couldn’t see inside but heard a heated argument between my mom and Elspeth. She mentioned that ever since my mom joined the Abernathy family, she seemed to lose all sense of

watched

sudden silence in the room

couldn’t continue, his chest heaving, his eyes bloodshot, nostrils flaring with each breath. His hand, drenched in sweat and clasped by Evadne, shook uncontrollably.

haunting image of his mother plunging to her death. For the first time, he realized the sound of a body hitting the ground from a

of that glance would burden him for life, nearly crushing him time and again. “Stop, Thaddeus,

she could, wishing their hearts and pulses could intertwine. He hadn’t shed a tear, yet she couldn’t help

my hatred, I haven’t lost my mind to it; I haven’t

you’re by my side, Evadne. You

that moment, Arnold and Aaron saw the truth. Cassius

maid heard the argument die down in the room just about the same time you heard Elspeth fall from the balcony. Could that be indirect

she found out that her medication had been tampered with Elspeth. Those don’t seem like

analysis, “While we lack concrete evidence, the truth might just be as we suspect.

maid said after my mom fell, Elspeth came rushing out of the room in a panic, bumping into her. At that moment, Elspeth threatened the maid to keep silent, giving her a hefty sum of hush money so she’d never

you must protect her at all costs,” Aaron reminded

need to pin down Elspeth’s drug charges, keep her detained and not let her out. Then, collect more evidence as quickly as possible to prosecute Elspeth

charges like incitement to murder. Because he only got one shot, and it had to count. If

Evadne asked, her eyes sparkling

man’s eyes were deepened, his hand snaking around her waist, leaning in close as his lips grazed her

was a scene

Elsie stood at the basement door, listening to the blood–curdling screams within, which were enough to make Harvey physically ill, though

eyelid. The only other woman I’ve seen with nerves like

that I resemble Evadne; am I not even allowed my own

I?” Before Harvey’s voice trailed off, the

emerged, his white silk shirt splattered with blood, his face, neck, and elegant throat stained crimson. He breathed heavily, blood mingling with sweat down his

Harvey and Elsie bowed in

gold–rimmed glasses, and wiped the blood droplets from the lenses

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