Cassidy regarded Andrew coldly as she said, “A married woman was abandoned for cheating on her husband with his older brother. Moreover, she had her face surgically altered to resemble her lover's wife. There is a picture of Hayley on Zeller Group's website. In the corner of the picture is a woman wearing the exact same ring as you. Her real name is Hayley, and the wedding ring was the one that her husband used to propose to her. Therefore, the ring you thought she liked was just a replica of another man's.”
Taking in his expression, she added, “That man was the scion of a prestigious family in the medical field. She had you cultivate Arachrede so that her man could achieve success again. Unfortunately, he was stabbed to death two days before you begged my father to save her life. The reason is that Arachrede is a toxic herb, and he tried to counteract another toxin with it, killing someone else's wife in the process. In fact, it wasn't my father who destroyed your plot of Arachrede in the mountain. It was that man's first wife who set the fire.”
Cassidy then fished out a pair of rings and placed them on the coffee table. “Go ahead and take a look at the ring on your finger. Compare it with this and see if it's the same, including the engraving on the inside. Your last name starts with a 'Z,' and Hayley's starts with an 'L.' Now, that man's last name also starts with a 'Z.' However, the difference is that he had engraved the letters on the rings himself. As you know, no two individuals have the exact same handwriting. Take a good look at the letter in your ring and see if it's a forgery of this one.”
At the end of her utterances, she purposely pointed at the engravings on the rings.
Andrew picked up one of the rings and compared it with his own. Sure enough, the letter “Z” was engraved in the same way on both rings.
“I remember that you once told me Hayley was the one who engraved the letter on your ring. Well? Do you feel like a clown yet?” Cassidy asked with a mocking grin. None of his microexpressions went unnoticed by her.
Andrew's expression clouded over, and he gripped the ring with so much force that his knuckles made cracking noises.
Cassidy walked up to the desk and said, “Go turn yourself in. I'll keep the child.”
Andrew arched an eyebrow and turned around. There was a hint of astonishment in his eyes as he stared at her. “Back then, you told me that the child was gone. Why did you say that?”
Everything I did was because of what she told me. I would've been happy to live a nice and stable life!
“I don't know why either. Perhaps I was afraid...” she replied, propping her arms on the desk. Her legs were turning to jelly. “You did take the lives of my family members, after all...”
He stood frozen in shock. “How are you so certain that I'm the one who took their lives?”
“Is that not the case? My father told me about it before he died!” she snapped back at him.
“How could you not understand something so simple? Your father was the one who taught me everything I know. Has it not occurred to you that my obsession with Arachredes is also because of him?” Andrew asked with a sneer.
“You're lying!” Cassidy turned around and shot him a furious glare.
“Deep down inside, you know that I'm telling the truth. You and I have just been trying to run away from it despite knowing about it all along, that's all,” he said as he tossed the rings into the trash can nearby and stepped forward to hold her steady.
Afterward, he shot Fernando a cold glance and summoned his men. In an instant, his bodyguards subdued his godson.
Cassidy's eyes were filled with shock. “What are you doing?”
“What's the point in keeping someone who has betrayed me?” Andrew replied while motioning at the bodyguards to drag Fernando out of there.
Cassidy wanted to stop them, but Andrew knocked her out with a drug.
He then carried her out of the study with the butler following closely behind.
By the time the police arrived at Andrew's mansion in Jayfort, the place was already vacant.
The townspeople of Jayfort were sent to a nearby hospital for physical examination and toxicological testing.
A week later, Curtis was waiting outside the operating room with his hands tightly clasped.
The overwhelming restlessness in his heart made it impossible for him to tear his eyes away from the doors of the operating room.
About two hours later, the lights on top of the doors went off, and the nurses wheeled Rayna out of the operating room.
Curtis quickly strode forward, and the doctor took off their mask to inform him of Rayna's condition. “The surgery was a success. Fortunately for her, that thing had been dormant while it was inside her body. Otherwise, there's no telling what damage it could've caused. It will take some time to rid her body of the residual toxin, though. After she has recovered, she can rely on medications and her own metabolism to eliminate most of the toxins from her body. As for the rest, we can only thin it down with more medication, then perform blood transfusions to remove them.”
With that, the doctor left.
Curtis followed the nurses into the ward. His eyes reddened when he saw Rayna lying on the hospital bed with tubes attached to her body.
“I'm so glad she's alive,” Linda said while James and Roxanne tried their best to comfort her.
Everyone had red-rimmed eyes and relieved smiles on their faces.
Articles on Zeller Group being sequestered, as well as the disappearance of its founder, were all over the newspapers in Norwal City two days after Rayna woke up from her surgery.
The body of a young male had also been discovered at the Gilroy residence in Jayfort. Investigations revealed that it belonged to the murderer who killed Cassidy's father and grandfather.
They believed the man's motive was to avenge his first love.
According to authorities, the deceased, Fernando's university sweetheart, was killed by Cassidy's grandfather for trying to steal the Gilroy family's book on herbs.
The Gilroy family also had a granddaughter whose whereabouts remained unknown. That led people to believe that she had fled the country with the founder of Zeller Group.
Sitting on the hospital bed, Rayna let out a sigh as she watched the news on television.
Meanwhile, Curtis was seated on a chair, peeling an apple for her. “Don't worry. Cassidy is a smart woman, so I'm sure she'll be fine,” he reassured her when he heard her sigh.
His wife nodded. “I hope so.”
Their conversation was interrupted when a deliveryman showed up outside the ward. “Excuse me. Is this Mrs. Faymon's ward?”
Rayna looked over. At the sight of the deliveryman, she asked, “Did someone send me a parcel or something?”
“Yes, that's right. There's an envelope here addressed to you. Please sign for it,” said the deliveryman as he entered the ward and handed her the envelope.
Rayna accepted it and was about to sign her name when she noticed the tattoos on the back of the deliveryman's hand. Stunned, she raised her eyes and took a few more glances at him.
Just then, Curtis stood up and casually walked to the door. In the meantime, the deliveryman left the ward after receiving Rayna's signature.
Once the deliveryman was out, Curtis motioned for the bodyguard to tail him while he himself returned to Rayna's side.
Noticing that she was about to open the envelope, he took larger strides forward and stopped her. “Give it to me. I'll open it for you.”
Considering everything that had happened, he was paranoid about his wife being hurt by objects of unknown origins.
“All right, then.” Rayna did not say anything else and handed him the envelope directly.
Curtis extended his hand and took it, but instead of opening the envelope right away, he first put on a pair of gloves from the drawer before doing so. His cautious attitude caused her lips to twitch.
Ever since he knew the existence of bizarre poisonous plants and parasitic worms, he's become... uh... very paranoid, especially in matters concerning me.
At that moment, Curtis opened the envelope, only to find an invitation card within it. Instinctively, he arched an eyebrow in response to the unexpected turn of events. Just as he was about to open it, Rayna hurriedly stopped him. “Do it with the card facing me. I want to be the first to see its contents.”
The man did as told.
Subsequently, Rayna was greeted by the following words: From Mr. E of the presidential palace of Yartran.
The card gave off a faint floral fragrance. It was an invitation for her and Curtis to attend a banquet organized by the royal family of Yartran.
“It's an invitation from Yartran,” she said softly while motioning for her husband to take a look at it.
Curtis' face darkened the moment he flipped the card over and read its contents. He was even exuding a strong hint of frostiness.
Rayna was confused by his response, but she did not probe into it, merely assuming his displeasure stemmed from an issue with a previous business project in Yartran.
“We don't have to go if you don't feel like it,” she said gently.
“Oh, we're going. We have to.” Curtis knew the other party's true intention for sending that invitation, and he was not about to back down like a coward.
After taking a moment to regain his composure, he gazed at her affectionately and asked, “Do you want to go?”
“I do, but...” Still feeling a little uneasy, Rayna suggested, “How about we decline the invitation? I want to spend more time with you and the babies.”
“All right, then. As you wish.” Curtis then tore the invitation into pieces and threw it into the trash can.
“Yasmin has started going to school. Remember to have the butler find out her learning progress today. She'd hardly been schooled in the past,” she enjoined as she lay in his embrace.
“Sure thing,” he replied, agreeing to every request she made.
“Once I recover, I want to go on another honeymoon!”
“As you wish.”
The End.
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