495 Chapter 495
495.Chapter 495
Once seated, Adeline looked across the room and noticed something striking. After her question to Eliza, every member of the Stonor family turned their gaze to Eliza at the head of the table.
Everyone’s gaze, except for Benedict’s, was like that of wolves guarding a trap, fixated on the seemingly oblitions pay above, waiting to see if she would step right into it,
‘Is there something hidden in my words just now? How could I not have noticed? Adeline wondered.
Adeline froze, her heart skipping a beat. She shot a nervous glance at her husband, hoping for some reassurance
Dale patted her hand gently, saying nothing, but his gaze, like everyone else’s, shifted to the seat of honor
“Your Grace, your coffee has gone cold.” The guard behind Eliza suddenly broke the tension, reaching out to take the coffee cup that had been sitting untouched for a while.
Upon hearing that, Eliza’s eyes widened slightly, but she didn’t turn to look. Instead, she handed over the cup. Then replace it with a fresh one.”
The guard curled his lips faintly and responded in a deep voice, “Got it, Your Grace. Just give me a sec
After personally pouring her a fresh cup of hot coffee, he placed the cup back beside her
Eliza picked up the coffee, sipping quietly, her demeanor calm and unhurried. When the silence stretched, she finally seemed to notice. Tilting her head, she asked with feigned confusion, “Why’s everyone so quiet? Did you all settle things
without me?”
She made no mention of Adeline’s earlier words, avoiding her trap entirely, nor did she cater to Gabriel and the others‘ expectations.
Eliza simply said lightly, “This might be my first time mediating, but trust me. I’ll make sure justice is served.*
She deliberately emphasized the last four words, her gaze sweeping across Gabriel and the others before finally locking onto Adeline.
Caught off guard, Adeline instinctively shrank back under her piercing stare. ‘Is Eliza really looking at me like I was an idiot? she wondered.
Well, Adeline was acting like one.
The meeting had barely started, and Adeline was already trying to get Eliza to endorse her claim of irrefutable evidence. She was blatantly asking Eliza to take sides.
Dale had only asked Eliza to preside, not take sides. And now, with Eliza sitting here as the Holy Lady to ensure justice, if she openly sided with anyone, it would give the Duke’s estate the perfect opportunity to exploit her bias.
That was precisely why Gabriel and the others had remained silent earlier; they were waiting for her to speak.
If Eliza dared to show even a hint of favoritism, it wouldn’t just tarnish her reputation as the Holy Lady, it would also undermine the Marquis’s estate, which had the moral high ground.
Eliza, however, deftly sidestepped Adeline’s words, her simple declaration effectively quelling Gabriel’s hopes of manipulating her.
After all, the foolish one here was Adeline, not Eliza.
Realizing her blunder, Adeline felt a wave of regret washing over her. She stole a guilty glance at Eliza and, from that moment on, refrained from trying to involve her in the argument.
The tension in the room escalated when Dale placed a nearly empty bottle of poison on the table for all to see.
“You wanted evidence? Here it is,” Dale said coldly. Fixing his gaze on Anthony, Dale continued, “You should recognize this poison, shouldn’t you? After all, it’s the very same poison you used to harm my son. You claim you didn’t intend to kill him, only to control him. Well then, prove it to us.”
He drummed his fingers on the table. “Drink it. If you can last a whole day without the antidote, I’ll believe you. Not only that, but I’ll let this matter go entirely. So, what do you say? Do you dare?”
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