Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
She looked up, questioning the two servants nearby.The servants, visibly shaken, shook their heads.
“We’ve been on watch the whole time, saw nothing out of the ordinary, and nobody has come by.”
“Because Mr. and Mrs. Collins were worried about accomplices coming to rescue him, they set a trap outside. If someone had slipped him poison, we couldn’t have missed it.”
The servants were near tears, fearing the blame for this oversight. They bowed deeply, trembling, not daring to lift their heads as they spoke.
“You were on watch the entire time? Never stepped away?” Mirabella pressed.
“We each took turns to use the restroom, but one of us always stayed. Ms. Bella, we swear it wasn’t us.
We didn’t kill him.”
Their bodies were bent at a ninety-degree angle in fear.
They knew the man was of great importance to the Collins family, and now with him dead, they were naturally the prime suspects.
“Mr. Cooper brought him in last night unconscious. We assure you, he didn’t wake up for a moment.”
“We kept a close eye on the surveillance; there couldn’t be a mistake. At first, he was just lying there, occasionally moving a bit. Then he was still for so long, we thought perhaps he was trying to lure us in.”
“We didn’t want to disturb your rest since you hadn’t gotten up yet, so we didn’t voice our suspicions, just kept watching.”
“Ms. Bella, his death has nothing to do with us, we’re not his accomplices.”
Their voices were tinged with a cry, anxious and unsure of what to do.”I’m not suspecting you, just asking for details. Calm down,” Mirabella reassured them before turning to Hans, “I need to get something.”
Hans nodded, staying by Erik’s side.
Mirabella returned shortly with her medical kit. Inside, alongside the acupuncture set, were various other items. She took a detection kit from it and took his blood as sample. Several minutes passed, the detection kit finally showed the result.
“He died of poisoning.”
Mirabella’s conclusion sent a wave of panic through the two. Poisoned? How could this have happened?
Now they were in deep trouble, and not even the mighty Mississippi could wash away their suspicion.
Under their watch, Erik had been poisoned. But as to when this had happened, they were clueless.
“Let’s keep this under wraps for now,” Mirabella directed, her gaze steady on them. “You two will continue your duties here as if nothing’s amiss.”
“Yes, Miss,” they replied, shivering.
“All right, dry those tears. Take a break over there; but stay out of sight. I’ll call you when I’m done.”
The basement was expansive, housing not only this room, but also many other rooms like a game room, a home theater, and a storage room.
Besides these, there were two small gardens in the basement, perfectly illuminated by shafts of light from above.
“Steer clear of the gardens,” Mirabella instructed, wary of onlookers from above.
“Yes, Miss,” they nodded before retreating.
“Hans, I want to perform an autopsy on the body, see what kind of poison leads to his death, maybe we can find some clues,” Mirabella whispered to Hans. “Make sure to tell Mom and Dad without anyone overhearing.”
“Got it. You sure you don’t need an extra pair of hands to help?”
“It’s better if it’s just me; I don’t want to draw attention.””Alright, come up when you’re done,” Hans said before leaving.
Mirabella closed the door, slipped on her gloves, and laid out her tools—a scalpel, shears, and bone cutters among others.
Elsewhere, Louisa was grappling with the news of Erik’s death, her mind reeling with disbelief.
“Could Martin have poisoned him last night before delivering him to us? Was he afraid Erik would suffer more in our hands, so he decided to strike first, give him a quick out? Was this a plan Martin and Erik had hatched together, or was it Martin acting alone?”
The thought that Martin might have double-crossed her sent Louisa spiraling into rage.
On the surface, Martin proposed a trade, but behind the scenes, he’d pulled a fast one.
Erik was the key to unraveling the truth behind the fire at the old health clinic—if only he could identify the mastermind, the whole truth would emerge.
But now Erik was dead, and with him, all leads had come to a dead end!
“Erik is Serena’s biological father, after all. How could Martin just hand him over to face our wrath? So, it’s either a faked death, a ruse to slip by us, or,”
Kenneth’s speculation was cut short by Hans’s input, “It’s likely a true death. Bella’s diagnosis is never off, Kenneth.”
If it were a faked death, Bella’s medical expertise should have caught it.
“If it’s a real death, then there’s only one explanation—Martin poisoned Erik before the handoff, whether Erik was complicit or not.””That Martin, playing us for fools! I’m going to give him a piece of my mind!” Louisa fumed, dialing Martin’s number with a vengeance.
Meanwhile, Martin sat on a bench outside the emergency room, surrounded by highly skilled doctors who had yet to bring Serena back from death’s door.
The light above the emergency room had been on all night and still, there was no good news.
Then his phone rang. Martin glanced at the screen, and saw it was Louisa calling.
“Mrs. Collins,” he answered, his voice laced with fatigue but nonetheless respectful.
“Martin, after all the trust the Collins family has placed in you, how could you do something like this?
Did you ever intend to deliver Erik to us alive?”
“What are you talking about?” Martin’s gaze darkened with surprise and gravity. “How did Erik die?
When?”
Before he had handed Erik over, the man had been perfectly fine.
“Don’t play dumb with me. Now, I want his daughter back—alive or dead, I need proof!”
“Ma’am, could there be some misunderstanding?” Martin quickly tried to clarify. “When we captured Erik, we indeed used a sedative, but it was only meant to knock him out for a few hours. My team just knocked him out, nothing more. How he died, I implore you to enlighten me.”
He had thought that if Erik ended up in the Collinses’ hands, his fate would be rough, but at least he’d still have a breath in him.
But he hadn’t expected to lose the man overnight.
If Serena ever woke up and asked about her father, how would he ever explain.
“Are you sure you didn’t have a hand in this?” Louisa clearly didn’t believe him.
“If I had meddled in this, then I, Martin, swear I shall never be with Serena in this life or the next!” He believed it was the most binding oath he could make.
Louisa, hearing this, started to waver in her suspicion. “If it was not you, then who had done this?”Who would want Erik dead?
“Mrs. Collins, I don’t have all the details. Erik is Serena’s biological father; I would never harm him behind her back. I therefore request your clear judgment. I would stake my life, even the lives of my entire family, to swear that I have no involvement in this matter.”
He was innocent!
Louisa knew how much he valued his family. But if it wasn’t Martin, who else could be responsible?
Louisa hung up. The sound of the call disconnecting echoed in Martin’s ear.
He just couldn’t fathom how Erik had died so suddenly.
At that moment, the doors to the emergency room swung open, and a group of doctors emerged.
Martin quickly pocketed his phone and marched towards them. “How is she?”
“The patient’s wound has become severely infected. Bacteria have entered the bloodstream and caused a systemic infection. Her organs are showing signs of failure. You need to be prepared, Mr.
Cooper. There’s a very high possibility that she might…”
“NO!” Martin was struck as if by thunder. “Please, there must be something you can do! Aren’t you some of the best doctors in the world? Why can’t you save a single person? I’ll pay whatever it takes—
just save her!”
“The patient’s condition is critical—her vital functions and organs have all been seriously affected.
We’re truly sorry, we have done all we can.”
The doctors lowered their heads in helpless guilt.
“No.” Martin couldn’t accept this reality, “She mustn’t die. There’s got to be a way, please!”Even though he’d braced for the worst when he’d taken Serena from the Collins’ clutches the previous night.
Facing the grim outcome now, he simply couldn’t bear it.
His Serena couldn’t die.
If she died, what would he do?
“How can she be saved? Just tell me how.” Martin said, nearly losing his control.