Chapter 142
In a hotel room.
Rhett sat at the desk, glancing towards Kristin who hesitated in the corridor, too timid to approach.
“Take your medicine,” he said, sliding a glass of water with the dissolved pill towards her.
Kristin, nervously hiding behind a partition until she heard Rhett’s voice, walked over with her head down.
“Do you feel like resting here, or would you like to check out the town?” Rhett remembered Kristin had once mentioned she loved the seaside view from Harborside Haven.
A spark lit up in Kristin’s eyes as she tightly clutched the water glass. Although she struggled to express herself, her eyes never lied. Whether she liked something or not, it was always apparent at a glance.
That was why when Rhett first met her at a Fitzgerald family gathering, he thought her eyes shone with a naive clarity.
“Feeling any cooler?” Rhett stood and touched her forehead.
Kristin stiffened but didn’t pull away.
“Still a bit warm. Take the medicine and rest a bit. Later, we can go see the coastal night view,” Rhett said and leaned on the desk, watching her.
She nervously gulped down the medicine in one go.
“Here,” Rhett said, handing her a bottle of water from the desk, having already unscrewed the cap for her.
Kristin, grimacing from the bitter taste, was about to take a sip when Rhett suddenly frowned and took the bottle back.
He had a thing about cleanliness and was very particular about hotel’amenities. The cap had come off too easily, meaning the bottle had been tampered with. He inspected it closely and sniffed the contents, his expression darkening. “There’s something wrong with this water.”
Kristin stared at him, shocked. “Wrong? Is it dirty?” She thought Rhett was just being overly fastidious. “I’ll get a fresh one.”
“Smell this,” he urged, holding the bottle to her nose.
She sniffed and her eyes widened in alarm. “There’s definitely something off. It smells sour.”
Good water wouldn’t smell sour even if it was past its expiration date.
This wasn’t water.
Rhett furrowed his brow, motioning for her to be silent. He grabbed two sugar packets from
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near the coffee machine before guiding her into the bathroom.
Kristin watched, curious about what he was planning.
Rhett tore open the sugar packets and poured them into an ashtray, then added the bottled water. The sugar turned black and bubbled up with gas.
“Diluted sulfuric acid,” Rhett said, his voice low.
Kristin gasped, covering her mouth. “Sulfuric acid?”
If she had drunk that, the consequences could have been disastrous from severe damage to her throat to a life–threatening emergency.
Rhett was grave as he screwed the cap back on and stepped out of the bathroom to call York.
Soon after, York arrived at the room and set up makeshift cameras in both the bathroom and the main room.
“Act natural,” York advised, glancing at Kristin.
She nodded dumbly, aware that they were trying to catch the culprit.
The bottle contained sulfuric acid, and only a limited number of staff had been in and out of the room. It wouldn’t be fair to accuse anyone without evidence.
If Kristin had been harmed, everyone would have been too panicked to consider keeping the water bottle as evidence for the police.
The perpetrator would return to the crime scene to cover their tracks, because simply flushing the bottle down the toilet would leave no evidence.
“Don’t be scared,” Rhett reassured her.
Kristin was pale, not sure whether the person behind this was targeting her or Rhett.
“This room was booked under Kristin’s name, could this be a personal attack?” York whispered. Rhett nodded. If he hadn’t been the one to open the bottle for Kristin today, it didn’t bear thinking about.
His fingertips were cold as he felt a wave of retrospective fear.
“Help! Something’s happened! Call an ambulance!*
Outside, York’s panicked shouts filled the air, his hands apparently covered in ‘blood“.
Kristin’s face and mouth were smeared with ‘blood‘ as she pretended to faint in Rhett’s arms. They rushed out of the hotel and into the elevator. “Mr. Fitzgerald, what’s happened to Kristin?” Rhett’s voice was tense and low, and he didn’t respond.
As York and the others left, a housekeeper who had been lurking in the hallway sneaked into
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the still–open room, searching for the open bottle of water.
Quickly, she poured the contents into the toilet.
“Heh, it’s always the ones you least expect.” York came from the doorway, carrying a note of sarcasm as he entered with the hotel manager.
The housekeeper went pale, almost collapsing to the floor.
“Speak up! Who put you up to this? You’ve got some nerve to harm Mr. Fitzgerald!” the
manager’s voice shook with fury. This was a criminal offense.
“Manager, I didn’t do anything. I just saw the door open and came in to clean,” the housekeeper protested.
“Really?” York sneered, pointing to the prepared cameras and the switched sulfuric acid. “Caught red–handed. Go explain yourself to the police.”
In the underground parking lot.
Kristin sat in the car, still in shock.
“Scared?” Rhett asked, pulling her close.
Kristin looked up at Rhett, feeling the aftershock of the incident.
From now on, she resolved that anything Rhett was about to consume, she would need to test.
first.
“We’re going back to Silvergrove City, and York will stay to handle things here,” Rhett said, his mood dark. He couldn’t risk Kristin’s safety any further.
Kristin had just had a run–in with Nicola, and then this attempt on her life, a warning from Nicola.
Rhett snorted coldly, flexing his fingers.
Nicola had become too comfortable within the Fitzgerald family.
Kristin nodded stiffly.
She had been looking forward to seeing the seaside night view with Rhett.
Now, glancing out the car window at the passing traffic, her gaze lingered with a hint of sadness.
Sometimes she wondered was everyone in this world free except for her.
She felt like she was forever locked in a cage.
“Take the outer loop to the beach,” Rhett instructed briefly.
The driver nodded and steered the car onto the outer loop road.
Chapter 142
A few years ago.
“Kris, what are your plans after getting out?” the only person Kristin could talk to during those years in prison was Harriet.
“Just wanna be there for my kid…” Kristin’s voice was raspy.
She just wanted to be there as Summer grew up.
“Ever thought about getting hitched? It’s gonna be tough for a woman raising a child on her
own.”
“As if marrying off would make life any easier? No one’s gonna love a woman like me…”
Kristin was acutely aware of her tarnished reputation, knowing full well that love might never come knocking again.
She had stopped longing for marriage and a future a long time ago.
Unbeknownst to her, the car had pulled over to the curb, and Rhett stepped out, opening
Kristin’s door.
She had been leaning against the door, lost in thought, and almost fell out when Rhett abruptly opened it, throwing her off balance.
Instinctively, Rhett stepped forward, catching Kristin against his legs.
With Rhett’s high figure and perfectly proportioned body, his long legs made Kristin’s fall. awkwardly intimate, to say the least.
Clearing his throat, Rhett looked away. “The tide’s coming in. You might like a stroll by the
beach.”
Kristin straightened up, following Rhett clumsily, her nerves in a twist.
Glancing up at Rhett, Kristin noticed his ears had turned a deep shade of red, a complete giveaway of his embarrassment and shyness.
