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.”

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

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

was in charge of the medication; she made the switch, and she would have

dark path.” Thaddeus paused, his handsome face growing paler, “But on the day of the incident, there

the act of switching the medication?” Evadne’s heart

eavesdropped. She was so tense during that time, on edge, and couldn’t

catch up on all that lost

heard a heated argument between my mom and Elspeth. She mentioned that ever since my mom joined the Abernathy family, she

then?” Evadne

in the room and right

nostrils flaring with each breath. His hand, drenched

was the 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 height was so muffled, so heavy. He

would burden him for life, nearly crushing him time and again. “Stop, Thaddeus, please

him, as tightly as she could, wishing their hearts and pulses could intertwine. He hadn’t shed a tear, yet she couldn’t help but let her own fall freely,

my hatred, I haven’t lost my

because you’re by my side, Evadne.

and Aaron saw the truth. Cassius was right. Evadne was Thaddeus’s

about the same time you heard Elspeth fall from the balcony. Could that be

Abernathy had been on better terms, and she was furious when she found out that her medication had been tampered with Elspeth. Those don’t seem like the actions of someone planning to end

chimed in with his own analysis, “While we lack concrete evidence, the truth might just be as we suspect. It’s highly likely that

sum of hush money so she’d never have to serve the Abernathy family again. The maid said it wasn’t about the money;

must protect her at all costs,” Aaron

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

like incitement to murder. Because he only got one shot, and

mentioned physical evidence?” Evadne asked, her eyes

leaning in close as his lips grazed her ear, “Later, behind closed doors, I’ll tell you all

was a scene of

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

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

that I resemble Evadne;

offensive, did I?” Before Harvey’s

with blood, his face, neck, and elegant throat stained crimson. He breathed heavily, blood mingling with sweat down his chiseled face, his

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