Chapter 229
Chapter 229
96%
Just as Adeline was frantically shaking her head, trying to deny everything and distance herself from the situation, Eliza’s hand whipped through the air and landed hard across her cheek
The blow sent Adeline’s makeup streaking and left her face burning red.
Clutching her cheek, she snapped her head us and glared at Eliza. “Are you insane?! This is the Imperial Palace–how dare you hit me again?!”
Eliza stared at her coldly, hatred burning in her eyes. “Don’t say here. Even if the King and the Empress Dowager were standing right in front of us, this slap would still land on your face?
“You got everything you ever wanted, didn’t you, Adeline? You married Mr. Nevill, lived a comfortable, high–and–mighty life for over a decade. But in all that time, have you ever once remembered the kindness my mother showed you? Ever once thought of her sacrifice?”
Adeline opened her mouth, trying to retort–but not a single word came out.
Eliza stared at her, bitterly disappointed. “So it’s true. My mother really was blind to trust you.”
The look in her eyes said the rest: ungrateful wretch.
Adeline was instantly enraged. “Ungrateful I never hurt her! I just didn’t like her, is that a crime? She married my brother, and I was supposed to like her just because of that?”
Eliza’s voice dropped, biting. “You didn’t like my mother? Then why did you go begging her for help? She helped you, and you turned around and hated her for it? You brought her name up for years with nothing but venom. Tell me, Adeline- what right do you have to hate her? If anyone had a right to hate, it was her.”
Her voice sharpened. “If she hadn’t married your cold–blooded brother for the family’s sake, she wouldn’t have died under the weight of your schemes and those filthy calculations.”
“What schemes? What are you even talking about Adeline looked at her like she’d gone mad. “You’re talking nonsense!”
She hissed, “Don’t forget, my brother is your father. If your mother hadn’t married him, you wouldn’t even exist”
“I’d rather have died, Eliza snapped, her voice like a knife. “If I had a choice, I would rather have died than be born Gabriel’s daughter”
That shut Adeline up. She stared into Eliza’s frost–laced eyes and–for the first time–she flinched.
Only now did she finally understand. Eliza’s hatred for the Stonor family ran bone–deep. She meant it when she renounced them. She meant it when she chose to become a nun just to sever ties.
Eliza
All along, Adeline had dismissed it as an attention–seeking stunt, a spat with Sophie. Even up until today, she’d bel would eventually come back–because who would really walk away from a title like Stonor family heiress just to spend her life behind a monastery’s walls?
But now, as she looked into those eyes–once filled with silent deference, now cold as death–Adeline felt fear creep in.
“Eliza, don’t say that… Her voice trembled. “You’re still my brother’s daughter. Even if everything else changes blood.
doesn’t.”
A cold, humorless laugh escaped Eliza’s lips. “Oh, Adeline. Everything changes. Even blood
She backed away, suddenly terrified to be in the same rooms. “Enough, enough. I’m going to see Sophie. If you’re not coming, then I’ll go alone.”
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10-44 381, 19 ADT
Chapter 229
She didn’t even dare suggest Eliza come along anymore. Honestly, if Gabriel hadn’t ordered her here, the would ve fled already
Eliza said nothing. She simply stared
That was when heavy, steady footsteps echoed from the corridor.
Adeline looked up–only to nearly scream
- Blood! There’s so much blood-“””
It was Nolan. He’d entered the palace with Eliza earlier but hadn’t been seen since. Now, here he was–covered head to toe in blood. It soaked his hands, his robes, even his face.
He looked like he’d just stepped out of a murder scene
And to make matters worse, as he walked forward, he casually wiped his bloodied hands with a white handkerchief. The cloth turned crimson in seconds.
Nolan glanced at Adeline. That one look–from a man who’d taken lives more times than he could court–didn’t even need acting. His eyes were like knives, like a death sentence passed without appeal.
Then he tossed the blood–soaked handkerchief straight at her feet.
Adeline screamed.
She stumbled back in terror, tripping over her own dress and falling hard to the floor. Her hairpins clattered across the tiles.
“R–Run! The Prince Regent–he he’s killed someone!” she shrieked.
The palace maids were already scattering, shrieking in all directions. No one even thought of helping her up.
Adeline scrambled to her feet, turned, and tried to bolt
But Eliza caught her by the arm. “Leaving so soon? Weren’t you going to see Sophie?”
“Let go of me!” Adeline sobbed, thrashing. “Forget Sophie–I’m not going anywhere near her!”
“That won’t do.” Eliza’s grip tightened. “You can’t just leave without paying your niece a visit, now can you?”
Before she could even finish, Adeline broke down. “No, no, please–I’m not going. I refuse!”
She yanked herself free and ran–ran like her life depended on it, as if Nolan might come after her and slit her throat.
She’d wanted to scare Adeline, maybe drag her to see the “crime scene” they’d fabricated–but apparently, she’d overshot it. A little too convincing, perhaps.
Off to the side, Nolan raised his brows slightly, then shot her a sideways look that asked, Sa… do we keep going on.
Eliza stifled a laugh and shook her head. “She’s already fled in terror. What’s left to act? We’ve made our point.”
Adeline would no doubt go back and blow this whole thing out of proportion, spinning her tale for Gabriel with plenty of added drama. And Gabriel–well, even if he only believed a tenth of it, that would be more than enough to send him into a frenzy.
It was exactly what Eliza wanted.
Once Gabriel was provoked, once he came charging in–then she could begin her next move. After all, how could she deal with those oh–so–righteous “brothers‘ of hers without first breaking their oh–so–proud father?
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10:44 Sat, 19 Apr
Chapter 229
K 96%
Meanwhile, in a carriage outside the Imperial Palace, Gabriel slammed his palm on the low coffee table so hard it nearly
cracked in half
“What did you say?! Eliza had Nolan kill Sophie?!”
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