Chapter 688
Chapter 688
Eliza fixed her gaze on Sophie, catching the fleeting change in her eyes.
The Eyeball Spiders had already scouted out every detail within the Marquis’s estate and relayed the information to her through Vexara.
Eliza didn’t even need to guess. She already knew what Sophie was plotting.
She knew it was just a trap to lure her in.
But Eliza couldn’t care less. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
“Alright… Let’s go, then,” Eliza said and ascended the steps. When she reached Sophie‘ swept past without pause, striding straight into the Marquis’s estate.
merely cast her a faint, sidelong glance. Then, she
That glance, for some reason, left Sophie with inexplicable unease. No, not just unease.
It was
‘Has that bitch already figured out my plan?‘ Sophie wondered.
Then, she narrowed her eyes slightly, a cold sneer flickering in her mind.
‘So what if Eliza has seen through me?‘ Sophie thought. ‘She’s the one who came knocking on death’s door today. Does she think I’m still the same old Sophie whose life was in her hands?
‘I’m not the same person anymore. With my body refined by parasites, no poison can hurt me now.
‘So, no matter how potent Eliza’s poison is, it can’t touch me now.‘
With this thought in mind, Sophie lifted her chin haughtily, spun around, and strode confidently toward Eliza; who was already just inside the gates of the Marquis’s estate.
“Your Grace, since you’ve graced the Marquis’s estate today, why don’t I show you around?” Sophie said with a sweet smile.
Eliza cast a disinterested glance around before replying coolly, “No need. I’ve visited Marquis’s estate countless times. Frankly, I’m already bored with it.”
At these words, Sophie’s smile froze instantly.
‘I’d almost forgotten. Before I came back to the Duke’s estate, that bitch Eliza was Caleb’s fiancée and his childhood sweetheart. No wonder she had been here countless times,‘ Sophie thought bitterly.
Sophie tightened her grip on her fan, but quickly recovered her smile. “Your Grace, you may have visited Marquis’s estate many times before, but that was then. Since marrying into the Marquis’s estate, I’ve redesigned many of its landscapes. Now they’re utterly transformed from their former state.”
“What was then is not what is now,‘ Sophie thought. ‘How dare a jilted bride like you talk to me like that?‘
Sophie assumed the dignified air of the manor’s mistress, making offhand remarks about the scenery before Eliza. Though beneath her casual words, she was flaunting how the new had replaced the old.
Eliza caught her implication. She said with a mocking smile, “Indeed, that’s all in the past now. Nearly a year has passed, after all. By the way, Mrs. Nevill, will you still be celebrating your birthday on the anniversary of your mother’s death this year?”
Eliza smiled, her tone light as if reminiscing with an old friend. “I remember last year at our coming–of–age party, when Lord Celeb publicly broke off engagement and vowed to marry you instead. Now that you’ve become his secondary wife, he has kept his word. Though I wonder, are you satisfied with how it turned out?”
Every time Eliza called her Caleb’s “secondary wife,” Sophie clenched her jaw so hard she thought she might crack a tooth.
‘How dare that bitch mock me!‘ Sophie seethed inwardly.
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Chapter 688
Back then, she didn’t even think much of Caleb. He was merely a backup plan in her eyes.
Yet in the end, she didn’t even become his principal wife, let alone anything higher.
Even before the marriage, the Nevill family went too far and wanted to make me a mistress. Adeline deserves to die, Dale, too, and Caleb most of aus Sophie thought resentfully.
She seethed inwardly, ‘And damn Eliza!
‘Just a year ago, that bitch was under my thumb. I could bully and crush her as I pleased. But ever since that coming–of–age party, she’s become a whole new person and is no longer under my control.
‘If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have been reduced to this!‘
Sophie’s eyes burned with venomous hatred, her fury now laid bare.
After all, the relationship between Sophie and Eliza had long escalated into a life–or–death struggle, and it was a fact both women knew all too well.
“Enough. I have no interest in your so–catted scenery. Save it for the next woman who comes to the Marquis’s estate. I’m here on important business today, so don’t waste my time,” Eliza drawled lazily.
Eliza thought, ‘It’s about time. If I let Sophie keep stalling any longer, Cateb will probably end up dead or crippled. I couldn’t care less. I’m only intervening out of respect for Dale. Otherwise, even if Sophie kills Caleb, that’ll be none of my business!
Defeated in terms of momentum, Sophie said coldly, “I fail to see, Your Grace, what business you could have at our Marquis’s estate.”
“If the Holy Lady says there’s business, then there’s business. What right does a secondary wife have to question her? Hurry up and summon Lord Dale and his wife,” said Rafe.
Sensing it was his moment to shine, he immediately thrust out his chin, putting on his best “small dog barking under its master’s protection” act as he berated Sophie.
Sophie’s expression darkened instantly as she swept Rafe a cold, venomous glare.
‘Oh, I’m so scared,‘ Rafe thought mockingly.
The moment Rafe met Sophie’s gaze, he knew she wanted him dead,
“But so what?” Rafe sneered.
He grew even more insolent, letting out a loud snort and snapping, “Are you blind and deaf? Can’t you understand plain words? Just go and tell them to come now. Hah, you dare glare at me? Try it again, I dare you! I’m the Holy Lady’s right–hand lackey. Cross me, and I swear I’ll break your legs for her today.”
Eliza was speechless, thinking, ‘I don’t want a lackey like that.’
Seeing that Sophie was about to lose her temper and lash out, Eliza quickly stepped in to rein in her overbearing “lackey.” She said, “Enough. Please forgive him. My lax discipline caused the ‘lackey‘ to get so insolent. I promise I’ll set him straight when we return.”
Instead of being upset about being stopped and even facing a scolding when he got back, Rafe’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“Oh! Eliza says she’ll discipline me,” Rafe thought excitedly. ‘She finally acknowledged me.‘
