"Poison? That’s absurd, Victor. I was never the one-" Layla stopped talking when Ian pointed the gun at her. She had forgotten not to speak right now.

Victor touched Ian’s hand to have him turn the gun to their father. "I want to hear her speak. I want to have her tell the truth for once. I have already done my investigation and know the truth. Now is not the time for you to lie about what I know. You ended up poisoning me."

"No, I did not," Layla slowly shook her head.

There couldn’t have been a mistake in the past since she wouldn’t have been so careless to poison Victor. Layla had done her best to keep Victor from the cottage so he wouldn’t be near when she sent the poison.

Victor had plenty of food here so why would he go to the cottage where there was hardly anything to eat?

"You poisoned me. I ate what I saw when I visited the cottage and no one knew of your plot then to stop me. I secretly took some of the candy Ian did not seem interested in. I did it when no one was looking," Victor shared.

Layla’s heartache with each word Victor spoke. She had never known he was eating the food sent there or she would have stopped having it poisoned. Now that she thought back to it, it was around the time she started to poison Ian that Victor fell sick.

Layla shook her head, refusing to believe she was the one to make him this way. "No. You would have been dead if I had poisoned you."

"Have you forgotten that you were trying to poison him slowly so no one would notice? That was your plan, wasn’t it mother?" Victor asked.

Layla avoided Victor’s gaze. How was it possible for him to find out about this? She had worked alone since she couldn’t trust the servants. One of them would have gone to Hank at some point.

Ian pointed the gun at Layla. Though they did have all night, with the way Layla liked to not take accountability for her actions, they might end up here all week before she admitted to it. She needed a little push.

Ian aimed the gun at the vase in the direction where Layla sat and fired a shot.

Layla screamed, covering her ears. She was certain when she heard the terrible sound that she was going to be hit but she heard the vase shattered.

"That was a priceless vase," Hank said, angered by the broken pieces.

"Forgive me, I should start aiming for your heads since you are more concerned about a vase than your life. You knew about the poison at some point, didn’t you?" Ian asked. There wasn’t a chance Layla had been doing this and Hank did not know.

"A servant told me of their suspicions," Hank answered. "You wanted me to abandon my wife? Your mother, Victor?"

Victor was prepared for his mother to admit to what she had done but he was not ready for his father to confess to knowing all along. His father had insulted him a few times, some of which Victor believed Hank might not have noticed at times.

They acted like he had done something to himself because he didn’t want to be the heir but they knew that he had eaten food which was poisoned. Neither his father nor mother went easy on him whilst knowing his poor health was the work of his mother’s hate.

"You two, when are you going to try to be good parents? These days I find myself hating you two more and more. And you mother, I expected more from you because you were the one I loved most. I cannot bring myself to love you at all," Victor confessed.

She did not intend to harm him but it ended up that way with her taking him near death and Victor did not like her plans to poison Ian when she knew how much he cared for him. His mother was not a good person.

Victor had always known as a child that she was not a good person from the way she blatantly treated Ian when he was only a child as well. He felt forced to ignore her ways as he was only a child but he could do something now.

"If you care for me right now, tell me what happened to Noelle," said Victor.

"You do not love me? After everything I have done for you? I warned you many times not to go to that cottage but you went there and ate what you were not meant to. If Noelle knew what I was doing, why didn’t she stop you?" Layla questioned but immediately regretted it.

She looked at Hank who was not pleased with her bringing this up. Of course, he wouldn’t be happy when what Ian wanted to accuse her of was his doing.

Layla would have protected him before if he had not disrespected him as he did recently by bringing Ivy here. They were still married so if Hank died here, she would get the estate which she would still pass on to Victor. It didn’t matter that Victor no longer loved her. He was to finish what she started by becoming the next lord.

"I didn’t kill her. I know that she found out about the poison and went to your father. I was sent away that night and I never saw her again. I am tired of being pushed as the only bad person in this estate. Your father has his fair share of secrets. Isn’t that right, dear?" Layla asked, returning his gaze full of hate.

Layla remembered it clearly as though it was yesterday that she had spotted Noelle frantically walking around the estate and then when their eyes met, Noelle panicked, running away from her to find Hank.

Layla knew from the look that Noelle gave, she had found out a big secret so she chased her only to be turned away by Hank. She never got the chance to question Noelle.

Hank heard about the poison, looked at her as though he wanted to kill her, and then closed the door. Had he known then that she mistakenly poisoned Victor? Is that why he said she was the one to curse Victor’s health?

"Speak," Ian ordered Hank.

Hank closed his eyes. He had done what was best for the family then. He couldn’t have let it get out that Layla had started to poison Ian. His affair was still a topic brought up in secret then.

Hank recalled the night he had to do the cruel deed.

He closed the door after sending Layla away. "Do no panic. You are safe here," he told Noelle. Hank locked the door so Layla wouldn’t disturb them or a servant would not hear. "What is this you mentioned of poisoning Ian?"

Noelle tried to calm down so she could speak clearly. She was still tired from running here to beat Layla to speaking with Hank. "The lady has been poisoning Ian’s food. I tested the food myself and within days, I fell sick. It is all the candy that you have been sending him and some of his dinners."

"Are you certain? Your test may mean nothing if you were to take this to the court and Ian is not here for us to confirm anything," said Hank.

"My lord," Noelle said, disappointed that he was already not believing her when he knew how his wife was. They had to be thankful that Ian was no longer here. "I know it to be true that she poisoned him. I know of someone who can speak of her being near Ian’s food. Ian is not here so I wouldn’t have troubled myself with coming to you now for no reason."

If she had not noticed what Layla was doing, Noelle knew she could have lost Ian. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"I had stopped him from taking dinner sent from the estate and had to throw away what you sent as gifts. He is gone now but it shouldn’t be swept under the rug what was being done. I have been waiting for proof and now I have it," Noelle revealed.

She couldn’t have come to accuse Layla without being able to at least point out where the poison was being kept.

"I have the last candies you sent for Ian when you thought he was still here. If you ask the lady to taste one, she will not want to try one. I have not tampered with them."

"Of course you didn’t. Aside from Ivy, there isn’t anyone who loves Ian like you do. You have cared for him like he was your son," Hank said, leaving the door to go to his desk. "I am quite indebted to you for the way you have raised him. Despite living in the cottage he found someone loyal to him. I’m impressed."

"I do not want to be paid for caring for Ian. I only hope that he is no longer hurt by your wife. This is my last gift to Ian by letting you know the truth. I wish to leave now that he is no longer here. My lord?" Noelle questioned, puzzled by his actions of picking up a pen from his desk and then coming close to her. "I have told you of what is being done to your son."

"And for that, I thank you but I cannot have this come out now. Do not run," Hank advised Noelle, grabbing her hand before she reached the door. He covered her mouth and dragged her away from the door. "Let this die with you."