“Eveline, ” Shirley repeated her name. “Of course, I remember you. How can I forget?”
“Really? You remember me? What else do you remember?” Niamh continued asking.
Shirley turned her face and gazed at the chandelier above her, then she started murmuring as if she was talking to herself.
“ I guess there really is karma in this world. Heh. Hehehe…”
Shirley spoke, mocking herself, then suddenly burst into laughter. Her laugh was soft, but it sounded solemn.
Niamh’s delicate brows knitted together as she closely watched Shirley’s expression changing.
For some inexplicable reason, Shirley seemed clear- headed when she was laughing at herself.
Shirley did not look like how she had been earlier when her thoughts were completely under the poison’s influence and control.
Did Shirley have a completely different poison than what Niamh had?
Curious, Niamh thought about it, then continued asking.
“Shirley, why did you give me the only anti-toxoid test reagent? You developed this poison to deal with me and control my husband. You were so close to reaching your goal. Why did you change your mind at this critical moment?”
Shirley, still gazing at the chandelier, showed no expression on her face.
“Your question is so strange.”
As Shirley spoke, she turned her face and stared straight into Niamh’s eyes, and her pale lips moved gently.
“Everything will come to an end soon.”
Niamh frowned, unable to comprehend what Shirley was saying.
‘What is ending soon?’
Although Shirley’s gaze was as calm as still water, Niamh seemed to see the roiling waves in her gaze.
As she was about to enquire further, the door opened with a click.
Carter came in and was startled at the sight of Niamh standing by the bed, and Carter froze.
“Eveline, you’re still here.” Carter narrowed his deep eyes as they emitted a dangerous aura.
Niamh could see the dissatisfaction in Carter. As she wondered what he might do to her, Shirley suddenly made a pained sound and started calling out Carter’s name as she sobbed.
“Carter, it’s on fire again! Look, there’s a fire over there! ”
Shirley stared straight ahead with a terror-stricken face.
She moved her upper body in a panic to get up. When Carter saw this, he quickly ran to the side of her bed.
He sat down by the bed and held Shirley who was struggling to get up. “Shirley, there’s no fire.
You’re just seeing things.”
Carter said to comfort her, but Shirley was still pointing in front of her fearfully.
She leaned against Carter’s arms and pressed her face against his face in a panic, but her eyes were staring straight at Niamh.
Niamh held Shirley’s gaze for a couple of seconds before turning around silently to leave.
Carter was busy reassuring Shirley. When her emotions had finally settled down, he noticed that Niamh had already left.
Finding this suspicious, Carter retrieved the footage from the security cameras. It was then that he realized Niamh had entered the closet earlier.
She had waited until Carter had stepped out before entering Shirley’s room.
Regardless, the amount of time she spent inside was not long. It had only been the duration he had taken to cook porridge for Shirley.
However, he had no way of finding out what had happened in the room. With Shirley’s current condition, it would be impossible to obtain any information from her.
After leaving Gray Villa, Niamh had gone directly to Waldburg Corporation.
Kendrick had not been dealing with the corporation’s matters for quite some time. There seemed to have been so many incidents happening consecutively around him for the past two to three years.
At the present, he had just ended a meeting when he received Lilian’s latest medical report from Fabian.
This was the first time Fabian had sent over a video, allowing Kendrick to see his daughter whom he had not seen in a long time.
Through the video, Kendrick noticed that his beloved daughter was looking a lot better than before.
Kendrick felt assured by this.
He showed Niamh the update on Lilian immediately when she arrived.
Without Niamh realizing it, watching her little princess waving and smiling in the video filled Niamh’s eyes with tears.
This time, however, it was due to happiness.
Children would express their feelings in the utmost direct way, so Niamh could tell from the smile on Lilian’s face that she must be doing well by Fabian’s side.
“Fabian may have estranged himself from us, but I believe that he sincerely cares for Lilian.”
Kendrick spoke, affirming Niamh’s thoughts, and reached out to hold Niamh’s hand.
“Nia, perhaps it’s best to keep Lily by Fabian’s side for now.”
Niamh gently nodded, very much in agreement with Kendrick.
“That’s fine too. I’ll give Fabian a call later to ask him to look after Lilian for a while. First, we should take care of this issue with Carter.”
Kendrick wrapped his arms around Niamh’s waist and carried her onto his lap.
“Nia, you’ve been to Gray Villa for a few days now. Is there any development?”
Niamh recounted what had transpired in Gray Villa to Kendrick.
The expression on Kendrick’s face gradually became solemn.
“It seems your accident at sea might have been part of a scheme.”
“Perhaps Ryan’s death was also not an accident.”
The more Niamh thought about it, the more she felt something was amiss.
“Kendrick, I suspect Ryan’s death might also be related to Carter. There was no reason for Carter to be at sea at the time. His appearance only proves that he knew ahead of time that an accident would happen.”
Niamh paused in her speech, then corrected herself.
“No, perhaps it shouldn’t even be called an accident. It was something Carter had expected would happen.”
Kendrick’s brows lifted slightly, and his expression was serious as he contemplated deeply for a moment.
“It seems that, from the very beginning, Carter intends to become the ruler of St. Piaf, by hook or by crook.”
” If his intention of approaching me from the very beginning was to manipulate you, and subsequently penetrate the consumer market in Glendale, then I’m indirectly responsible for the yacht’s explosion that had killed Ryan.”
“Nia, it’s not right to speculate this way. Ryan’s death was caused by the yacht’s explosion which you had nothing to do with.” Kendrick did not wish for Niamh to overthink.
Despite Niamh’s reluctance to think that way, it seemed that the reality was as she thought.
When Kendrick saw Niamh lost in thought, he quickly interrupted her and said, “Nia, weren’t you just telling me that Shirley was acting strangely? What did you mean by that?”
Niamh thought about the expression in Shirley’s eyes. Shirley had not seemed like someone who was delirious. Her gaze had been firm, and it had been evidently signaling for Niamh to leave Gray Villa a s soon as possible.
In hindsight, Shirley had pretended to be scared at that moment so she could manipulate Carter, creating a smooth exit for Niamh.
“Kendrick, is it possible that the effects of AXP6g’s anti- toxoid test reagent differ between when it’s ingested and when it’s injected?” The question came from the depths of Niamh’s heart because she felt that Shirley’s symptoms differed from Niamh’s during Niamh’s flare-up.
Kendrick had a faint guess from Niamh’s question. “Have you noticed anything wrong, Nia?”
Niamh nodded. “You told me this before. When I went through the final stage of the flare-up, my memories were stuck at my most painful moments, and I could not even remember that we were in love. But Shirley seemed to be different.”
“How was she behaving?” Kendrick continued to ask curiously.
Niamh could not help getting lost in thought. Her expression became increasingly solemn.
“Perhaps I’m overthinking it. For Shirley, the most tragic memory is losing her only relative in the world.”
That was why Shirley kept seeing the hallucination of the fire in front of her. That was why she kept murmuring to herself that Adam and Cathy’s bodies were buried beneath a sea of flame…
The thought of this felt like a knife stabbing through Niamh’s heart.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.