Larissa Judson and Haskell Palmer novel Chapter 183

Larissa slowly withdrew her hand, a mocking smile playing on her lips. “Finley, do you really think I need to explain myself to you?”

Faced with her blatant arrogance, Finley trembled with rage. His fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. “Larissa, don’t push me too far! If you keep this up, I swear I will take you down with me!”

Larissa burst out laughing as if she’d just heard the world’s funniest joke. “Oh? Such brave words. If you really cared what I did to Leopold, why did you send your mother away for me? In the end, you’re just afraid of dying.”

Her blunt words hit their mark. Finley’s face flushed a deep, mottled red. His lips trembled, but he couldn’t find a single word in his defense.

Larissa’s smile widened. “So don’t play the tough guy with me. If you don’t have the guts to die, then stop making empty threats.”

With that, she moved with the agility of a cat, vaulting back out the window and disappearing from sight.

Finley stood there, shaking with humiliation, before finally turning his gaze to Leopold on the bed. He didn’t know what Larissa had done, but he was sure it was nothing good.

“I’m sorry, Leopold,” he murmured. “You know I have no choice. Larissa poisoned me. I can only do what she says to save myself. I couldn’t stop her, but I promise you, once I’m cured and no longer under her control, I will avenge you if you don’t wake up.”

As he spoke, a thought struck him: with the family in chaos over the accident and Neville, Sapphira, and Larissa all at the hospital, now might be the perfect time to send someone to the East District villa to steal the antidote.

Lost in his plotting, Finley failed to notice the faint flicker of Leopold’s eyelashes on the bed.

…

“You know what they say,” Larissa mused, “brilliance can be a burden. But…” she paused, a grin spreading across her face, “I do prefer a smart man.”

Her brief, disastrous relationship with Torrin had only solidified that belief. It was impossible to build a future with someone who wasn’t on the same wavelength.

“I went to see Leopold,” she explained simply.

Haskell nodded in understanding. “I heard he might not wake up.”

“Right,” Larissa said, not bothering to hide anything from him. “So… I did a little something to his brain. He’s conscious now, but he still can’t move.”