Love's Unexpected Awakening Elowen's Choice novel Chapter 311

Chapter 311 Truth In A Bottle

Chapter 311 Truth In A Bottle

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Lydia lay sprawled across the bed, pale as death, each breath so light it barely seemed to move her chest. At the foot of the bed, Nina crouched by the bedposts, cheeks wet with tears, her small body shaking with silent sobs.

Alistair glanced at Nina, something like pity in his eyes. Then he turned to Hugh, his voice nearly begging.

‘Doctor Dray, please. Lydia’s always been weak. And lately, with all the trouble in the family… she collapsed the other day and still hasn’t woken up. We brought in several doctors, but they all said it was nerves or grief, and that medicine wouldn’t do anything…”

Hugh stayed cool. He said nothing, only stepped to the bedside and pressed fingers lightly to Lydia’s wrist.

A moment later, he let go, his expression unchanged.

‘Well?” Alistair asked, barely hiding his nerves.

‘She’s been poisoned,” Hugh said.

Poisoned?” Alistair stared at him. “That’s impossible.”

Hugh’s voice stayed flat. “If you didn’t trust me, why call me?”

Alistair flushed and lowered his head. “That’s not what I meant. It’s just… Lydia’s never had enemies. She’s quiet. Why would inyone poison her?”

But even as he said it, a thought crept into his mind.

Could it be Elspeth? Did jealousy push her to poison Lydia and get rid of her for good?

This isn’t a common poison,” Hugh said. He looked at Nina, and his tone softened slightly. “Miss, has your mother met anyone ew lately? Or eaten anything unusual?”

lina recognized him at once. He was the kind doctor from Duskmoor Manor, the one who had treated her so gently last time. She emembered how careful he’d been. He was a good man.

he wiped her face and answered, “Mom… didn’t really see anyone. She just ate a piece of candy by herself.”

What kind of candy?” Hugh asked.

lina’s voice dropped. “Mom said it was her special treat. When I asked for some, she wouldn’t give me any.”

Is there any left?” Hugh said.

lina nodded. She got up, walked over, and pulled a bottle from Lydia’s arms. “This one. Mom always kept it with her.”

Something shifted in Hugh’s face when he saw it.

Alistair noticed at once. “You know it, Doctor Dray?”

Hugh nodded. He took the bottle and ran his fingertips over it. For the first time, a trace of warmth entered his gaze.

Alistair seized on that. “If you know what it is, then you have to save Lydia.”

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3:43 pm

Chapter 311 Truth In A Bottle

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Hugh looked at him, his voice cold again. “I can save her. But you should understand something. From what the girl said, Lydia kept this bottle herself. No one poisoned her. She took it on purpose to fake an illness.”

Alistair went still, shock plain on his face. Lydia had poisoned herself? Pretended to be deathly ill-for what?

Then the answer hit him.

If Lydia doesn’t get this sick, I never agree to sign the divorce papers. So this is her plan all along.

Alistair stared at her in disbelief.

Hugh said nothing more. He turned his attention to preparing the antidote. There was no doubt about it-this was a poison only he knew how to treat.

When he finished, he gave his instructions. “She’ll wake up in an hour or two. As long as she rests, she’ll recover completely.”

Alistair thanked him and personally saw him out. Then he returned to Lydia’s bedside and waited for her to wake.

The moment Lydia’s eyes fluttered open, she tried to look toward the window-but Alistair was already standing in front of her.

“Alistair…” Her voice shook.

He looked at her, cold and steady. “Lydia, why did you poison yourself?”

Her heart slammed in her chest. She bit her lip, panic rising. “I…”

Didn’t that doctor say this poison can’t be traced by anyone?Did I use too much?

Her thoughts raced. Right now, she had to calm Alistair. She couldn’t let him start hating her-not with the royal decree still on its

way.

She took a shaky breath and filled her eyes with tears. “Alistair… I’ve regretted rejecting you all these years. I spent so long wishing I could go back. And now that we’ve found each other again, I wanted nothing more than to stay by your side, even if it was only as a servant. I know it was selfish, but I wanted to be your wife again. I thought… if you saw me sick-if you still cared about me at all- you might be willing to marry me…”

Tears slipped down her cheeks. Half of it was true, half invented, but that didn’t matter now.

Alistair had meant to ask where she got the poison. But seeing her cry, the anger drained out of him. All she wanted was to be loved.

He sighed and pulled her into his arms. “You didn’t have to do this. I want to marry you, Lydia. Even if you weren’t sick, I’d still want you as my wife…”

Lydia let herself fall against his chest, but her thoughts were still fixed on that royal decree. How much longer until I officially become a Lady of the First Rank?

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1:43 pm P P P P

Chapter 312 The Heavy Price Of Truth •

Chapter 312 The Heavy Price Of Truth

Back at Duskmoor Manor, Hugh had returned from the inn and was reporting everything to Elowen.

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As he described Lydia’s symptoms, Elowen paused, caught off guard. In her previous life, her aunt’s poisoning had looked much the same-except her aunt had been in far worse shape. Lydia’s case looked almost like a normal illness.

Wait, was Lydia the one who poisoned Aunt in my last life?

But too much had changed in this lifetime. Her aunt had insisted on separating from Alistair, and Lydia had ended up using the poison on herself instead…

‘What kind of poison is it?” Cassian asked, intrigued. “Why can’t ordinary doctors detect it?”

Before answering, Hugh glanced at Elowen. She was too deep in thought to notice.

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