Guidelines for the Perfect Goodbye - Chapter 58
Given how Mary was directly involved in the attempted poisoning incident a few days ago, she knew the ins and outs of the case better than other servants. She remembered how venomously Guinevere had treated her.
If such a malicious woman were to die swallowing the poison she had intended to use on another, it would truly be poetic justice.
“Do you really think she’ll die?”
Dana tilted her head.
“I have a feeling she’ll survive, that lady.”
Dana’s hazel eyes darkened. Soon, an unusually cold voice flowed from her lips.
“Sinners always seem to have unnecessarily long lifelines.”
Much like… Adam Lasphilla.
***
Guinevere recovered from her illness after another week.
However, one of her eyes, damaged at the optic nerve, remained cloudy. The shock of living the rest of her life as a semi-invalid had not yet faded before another misfortune struck her.
“To transfer the inheritance rights? By whose authority?”
A sharp voice filled the first-floor drawing-room.
“It’s only natural that actions have consequences, Sister,” Adam spoke calmly, holding a wine glass.
“Anyone would think youâre handing over Ulyssesâs inheritance rights. Me and my son are his closest relatives. The inheritance rights naturally belong to him.”
“You know one thing but not two, Sister.”
Adam smirked.
“The household head can revoke the inheritance rights of an unsuitable heir under special circumstances.”
“What?”
“Wasn’t there poison in Ulyssesâs sachet?”
“You… You know Ulysses had been trapped in a scheme and still…!”
“Committing disgraceful and frivolous acts as an heir is sufficient cause for revocation of rights.”
‘You knew everything and deliberately nurtured the situation!’
Guinevere struggled, unable to spit out the thoughts festering inside.
She had expected him to distance himself for a while, but to directly revoke Ulysses’s inheritance rights was unimaginable.
“Adam…”
Guinevere’s eyes welled up with moisture.
“I was wrong.”
She fell to her knees.
“I’m sorry. If only I hadnât fallen for that damned Hannahâs tricksâŚ!”
“Hah!”
Even as Adam scoffed, Guinevere didnât lose her audacity. She deliberately made sure her blinded left eye was in Adam’s line of sight.
“Iâll bear the consequences of my mistake. The illness, the disability, the humiliation. All of it, Iâll take. Just spare Ulysses⌠canât you?”
Mistake! Adam suppressed a burst of laughter, his face turning red with anger.
“Understood, Sister.”
Guinevere harbored hope at his easy affirmation, and then Adamâs lips approached her ear.
He smiled with a vein-popping face.
“Then letâs set a price.”
“The priceâŚ?”
“How about half of the Rosencrantz Marquisateâs property?”
“âŚYou want me to embezzle the familyâs funds?”
“Hasnât the ledger been entrusted to you for a while now? With the Marquis being senile, he wouldnât know if the accounts are correct or not. As long as our dear Young Marquis doesnât find out, there should be no problem.”
“Do you remember Iâm the lady managing that Marquisate?”
“Of course, I remember. Didnât I make it so?”
“âŚ.”
Guinevere slightly turned her head to meet Adam’s gaze. Now, he looked down at her with his usual expression.
As Guinevere gazed intently at him, her lips curved smoothly, and her eyes crinkled. Tears without emotion streamed down.
“In your eyes, I still appear to be a toy fit for manipulation.”
“That has never and would never be the case, Sister.”
Adam caressed her wet cheek.
“Youâve become too worn out to play the role of a doll.”
“âŚSo, youâre discarding me now?”
“Letâs speak accurately. It wasnât I who betrayed first, but you, Sister. Therefore, if anyone appears wounded and abandoned, itâs clearly me.”
Guinevere twisted her lips into a smile, tasting bitterness at the base of her tongue.
“Do you even know who the next heir is after Ulysses? It will be some country bumpkin from the borderlands, someone you’ve never even heard of.”
Just like how your dear House Deinz snatched up the empty nest of Lasphilla, some unknown relative will try to plunder the house.
“There will be no one else safer than your children anyway, Sister. AndâŚ.”
Adam stood up leisurely, his departing gaze full of arrogance.
“Why should I worry when Nathan is here?”
After that day, the security around Nathan’s bedroom became frighteningly strict. Strong guards stood watch at the door, and every meal and drink was thoroughly inspected.
“He will inherit the Lasphilla name.”
He gazed leisurely into his sister’s clouded eyes.
There wonât be a penny left for your child. So, Sister.
“Just give up now.”
