The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella) novel Chapter 2138

“Cornelia.” Bernard reached out to steady her, but he himself could barely stand and almost collapsed.

Luckily, their grandsons were quick, catching Cornelia just in time and steadying Bernard as well.

Such betrayal within the family was too cruel for the two elders to bear.

“You two monsters.” Bernard was in tears, a mix of anger and pain evident in his voice, “Cornelia has been driven to this by you. Are you satisfied now? You two, don’t you dare say you’re my son and daughter-in-law. I don’t want to see you again in my life again.”

His emotions were overwhelming, and as soon as the words left his mouth, he struggled to breathe and had to be helped away to rest.

Louisa looked at Lucas and Beverly with a cold heart and asked, “The people who broke into Reflections Villa tonight, who set fire to the basement, and the mysterious figure who has been threatening Martin all this time—are they your accomplices?”

“Yes,” Beverly and Lucas admitted in unison.

“Erik was also forced by you to take the poison?”

“Yes.”

Louisa decided to reveal the truth, “Actually, Erik died not long after taking the poison and arriving at Reflections Villa, but Bella wanted to draw out the person behind the scenes, so she spread the rumor that Erik was still alive. She even had the servants throw blood-stained gauze into the trash can, and sure enough, you couldn’t sit still and kept coming out to probe.”

Hearing Louisa’s words, Beverly was shocked that the blood-stained gauze was a deliberate ploy by Arabella.

At the time, she even had someone take these gauze back for testing, and the results matched the poison Erik had ingested.

“When did you start suspecting us?” Beverly looked at her niece on the couch, genuinely surprised by her niece’s sharp mind.

Her in-laws had been so kind to her, secretly helping her family in need, and to protect her pitiful self-esteem, they had been hiding things for so many years. After her brother took over the factory, they even secretly helped him make connections and introduce him to various people.

They never despised her for being compromised in photos, nor did they think less of her for secretly using her betrothal gift to pay off her brother’s debts. They didn’t reject Lucas marrying her because of her family’s debts. From start to finish, they treated her as one of their own.

They didn’t favor sons over daughters, nor were they unfair. It was her own jealousy that blinded her.

As if resigned herself to fate, she closed her eyes and after a long pause, she confessed remorsefully, “Frederica and Alma never knew about any of this. I implore you to forgive them, as for us, dispose of us as you see fit.”

Even if it meant making public all the things they have done, their reputations ruined.

Even if it meant going to jail for the rest of their lives, or being executed.