Chapter 35: What are you then?
Elizabeth immediately sought Tina and Jared, but their figures were nowhere to be found. Her brows knitted tightly together. The drug that was supposed to be administered to Tina had somehow ended up affecting Talon. The room that should have been the site of Tina and Jared’s indiscretions now hosted Talon and his nanny. Elizabeth had lived a long life and seen many things, and she quickly suspected that this was Tina’s doing.
“That despicable girl!” Elizabeth gritted her teeth with rage.
“Grandmother, let’s not get angry yet. We need to smooth this over first!” Amber was also furious inside. She didn’t know how Tina had discovered the drugged drink. She was even more puzzled about how her homemade drug had ended up affecting Talon, but she wasn’t in the mood to think about that now. She just wanted to resolve the situation at hand.
Elizabeth also realized that now was not the time to delve into these matters. She looked at the crowd of guests, who were enjoying the spectacle, feeling that her face had been thoroughly lost today. She said to Amber, “Since the drug was your concoction, you give Talon the antidote first.”
Amber nodded, in agreement with this plan. She called over two security guards to pull Talon down and then, pretending to examine his condition, discreetly administered the antidote when no one was looking. But to everyone’s surprise, Talon continued as before, as if the antidote hadn’t worked at all.
Amber’s brow furrowed instantly. What was going on? Why was her antidote completely ineffective? She remembered that Tina had studied medicine. Could it have been Tina who drugged him? How could that be? Tina was just a village girl from Serenity Ridge. Even if she had learned some medicine, she was nothing but a half-baked practitioner. The cure for Sophia must have been a fluke. It couldn’t have been her with such a potent drug. Could it be Jared? Yes, it must be him. He was a cripple, unable to get a wife, so he wanted to use a drug to coerce Tina, but it had mistakenly ended up affecting Talon.
Elizabeth also saw that the antidote didn’t work on Talon. He seemed more energetic than ever, and his strength seemed greater than before. He pushed the security guards away and lunged back at the nanny. Indescribable scenes ensued once more.
Even the onlooking guests started to feel embarrassed. Could Talon really be so capable?
Elizabeth’s face turned as black as coal, and she looked at Amber questioningly.
Amber’s eyes narrowed and she stood up, saying in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, “Grandmother, Uncle Talon has been drugged.”
Elizabeth was smart and immediately caught on to Amber’s implication. She feigned surprise, “What? Drugged?”
“Yes,” Amber was pleased with Elizabeth’s cooperation and continued, “I’ve examined Uncle Talon, and he’s under the influence of a very strong aphrodisiac that can only be neutralized through intercourse.”
She paused, glanced around, still not seeing Tina and Jared, and then said, “We have had such an incident at our birthday party today, we must find the person who drugged Uncle Talon and bring them to justice.”Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.
Elizabeth roared, “Damn it! Who is it that harbors such malice?”
Amber’s gaze became more focused, and she spoke lower, “One thing I don’t understand: just now in this room it was supposed to be Tina and Mr. Farrell, how did it become Uncle Talon? And Uncle Talon’s room is on the second floor, even if he had something going on with the nanny, they should have found a secluded place, right? Wouldn’t it be more likely for them to be discovered here?”
Amber’s voice was steady, ensuring everyone could hear the implication in her words. Such an ugly affair should have been resolved behind closed doors. But since so many had witnessed it, and some had even recorded videos, they had to resolve it in front of everyone.
This was to tell everyone that Talon had been set up, that the Reed family had not committed any disgraceful acts. She didn’t believe for a second that Talon and the nanny were involved. After all, he was a member of the Reed family. Even if he was unfaithful, he would look for someone attractive, with a good figure, right? What did the nanny have?
The crowd nodded in agreement with Amber’s reasoning. A person having an affair would naturally be cautious, and it was unlikely for them to be discovered so easily. And considering everyone’s status, even if they were to stray, it wouldn’t be with a nanny, would it? There must be more to the story.
“Tina?” Elizabeth suddenly raised her voice and said sharply, “It was Tina who schemed against Talon!”
She turned her headswiftly to glare at Hugo, her voice thunderous, “Your daughter is quite the schemer, isn’t she? She’s done something disgraceful and yet plots against her Uncle Talon?”
Having been on edge, Hugo relaxed slightly when he saw that Tina was not in the room. But upon hearing the old lady’s accusation, he couldn’t hold back and retorted, “Mother! How can you be sure it was her without investigating the situation?”
“If not her, then who?” Elizabeth fumed. “Several nannies saw her and Mr. Farrell in this room earlier, but now it’s her Uncle Talon caught in this mess. With everyone gathered here, neither she nor Mr. Farrell is anywhere to be seen. So tell me, where is she?”
As her words fell, a cool voice rose from behind the crowd, “Are you looking for me?”
Everyone turned to see Tina pushing Jared, walking slowly towards them.
Hayden and Nathan had been standing aside, watching the drama unfold. They understood what was going on; it was just this group of people plotting against Jared and Tina, only to be outwitted by Mr. Farrell in the end. But without seeing Jared, they had refrained from commenting. They were also a little anxious, not knowing if Jared had been affected.
Now seeing him, they immediately approached, “Mr. Farrell, are you all right?”
Jared looked up, his tone even, “Should I be?”
Hayden and Nathan fell silent. That settled it – he was fine.
Seeing Tina standing there unharmed, a flash of coldness crossed Amber’s eyes. She stepped forward, taking the initiative, “Tina, what are you doing here?”
Tina looked at her obliquely, her eyes cold, “Where should I be?”
Of course, in the nanny’s room!
Amber almost blurted this out instinctively, but she changed her response at the last moment, “Weren’t you in this room changing clothes? Grandmother couldn’t find you, so she came to check, but it turned out to be Uncle Talon and the nanny inside… Tina, Uncle Talon has been drugged, can you explain what happened?”
“Why should I explain?”
“Apart from you, Mr. Farrell, Uncle Talon, and the nanny, not a single human being has been to this room. Now that Uncle Talon has had this incident, you naturally have to explain. Otherwise, Grandmother will call the police. Tina, you are her granddaughter. If you admit it, Grandmother and Uncle Talon probably won’t take it to heart.”
Tina removed her hand from Jared’s wheelchair and walked over to Amber, looking down at her, “Are you sure only the four of us have been here?”
“Of course!” Amber was certain. The room had been vacated early for tonight’s arrangements, and no one had entered before Tina.
Tina’s lips curled slightly, her beautiful phoenix eyes narrowing into slits, a faint smile on her lips, “Oh… not a single human being, other than us, then what are you?”