Ready to Rule The Real Heiress Strikes Back (Lydia and Connor) novel Chapter 1176

When Krista heard Lydia say she could save her, she was so shocked. For a second, she couldn’t believe it. Then hope flared up inside her and she tried to sit up, her hands clutching at the sheets. But her body was too weak. She barely had the strength to move, let alone sit up on her own. As she started to fall back, Lydia caught her, steady and gentle.

Lydia held her up, one hand supporting her back, the other wrapped around her wrist. Her eyes were so calm and sure. “I can save you,” she said, her voice soft but certain.

That was it. Krista broke down, tears streaming down her face. For a moment, it felt unreal, like she was stuck in another one of those dreams she’d had a hundred times before. In all those endless nights, she’d wished for someone to come out of nowhere and pull her out of this nightmare. Just once, she wanted to remember what it felt like to be alive and healthy.

She wasn’t asking for much. Just a few more months, enough time to get back at those who’d hurt her. If she could do that, she could die with no regrets.

“Are you serious?” Krista’s voice trembled. “You really think I really have a chance?”

She knew her own body. She’d begged every doctor she could find, but in the end she’d been left in this lonely, crumbling courtyard, just waiting to die. She’d thought about ending it all so many times, but every time she remembered the Bland family, she just couldn’t. She couldn’t let it go.

Lydia nodded. “Yes. I mean it.” She paused for a moment. “But the real reason you’re sick… it’s because you were poisoned.”

Krista stared at her, stunned. She felt her whole world tilt. “What? What did you say?”

Lydia was quiet, giving her a moment to let it sink in.

Suddenly, memories rushed back. Krista remembered meeting Erik for the first time. She’d been out with friends at a bar when a group of guys started harassing them. Erik had stepped in, fought them off, and even got hurt protecting her. Later, she found out he worked at her family’s company. They ran into each other more and more, and before long, she’d fallen for him, even though he had nothing.

To Krista, love was supposed to be pure. It didn’t matter where someone came from or how much money they had. If two people loved each other, that was enough. Her parents had tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn’t listen. She gave Erik her whole heart, convinced he would make her happy. In the end, her parents gave up and let her marry him.

But marriage wasn’t what she’d imagined. Her sharp-tongued, bitter mother-in-law moved in almost right away, pretending it was to help take care of Krista. But actually, Krista was taking care of Victoria.

Then her parents got older, their health fading day by day. Back then, Erik was still decent to her. Now, thinking about it, she realized everything changed after her parents died. She had no one left to rely on. That’s when Erik started staying out late, always claiming he was busy with work, hardly ever coming home.