A series of questions flooded my mind. At that moment, I felt like my breathing had gone erratic.


    Doubt and confusion washed over me as I pondered. Should I act indifferent, or should I at least seek out the truth?


    Frances immediately noticed the shift in my expression. She knew about Nichs'' illness, but udia was far from the noble figure she portrayed herself to be. She only took care of him for her own selfish motives. Frances had casually suggested taking advantage of Nichs'' absence to end Daniel''s life, intending to im the inheritance sooner. Little did she expect that Daniel hadn''t left even a single penny for them.


    But udia had acted on it, hoping to strip away Nichs'' concern for others so that her significance to him would increase. Her possessiveness over Nichs was pathological.


    As udia''s mother, Frances naturally caught on to her intention. But she chose to remain silent, thinking that perhaps udia could really find a way out of this


    A wave of disappointment washed over her. Frances had always thought that despite her constant arguments with udia, they were still close as she had raised udia alone.


    Yet, she hadn''t expected udia topletely neglect her in such dire circumstances and was even prepared to shift all the me onto her.


    Feeling weary, Frances plopped to the ground and gazed outside the door.


    A tear streaked down her cheek as she murmured, "Ariana, take udia to visit Nichs. Honestly, he''s really very ill. And I admit that I was responsible for the rest. I will face the consequences."


    While I was taken aback by Frances'' sudden shift of stance, she nodded solemnly, as if she''d aged decades in just an instant.


    udia was utterly oblivious though. She scrambled to her feet and beamed at me. "See, Ariana? I told you I was telling the truth."


    I gave Frances a hard look before I left. "Why did you give me the medicine that harmed my body when I first married into the Hawk family?"


    Looking impassive, Frances smiled and said, "udia attempted suicide when you married Nichs. Do you think I''d allow you to bear his child?"Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    Her gaze drifted to udia, who was


    be the topic of their


    conversation. She was lost inher joy


    of potentially being freed.


    Staring at the back of udia''s head, Frances ultimately sighed and hung her head low. ''I can trade my life for the child you lost. I''m sorry."


    Only then did realize why the Hawk family never mentioned udia''s illness after I married Nichs. I finally understood why they allowed her to join us on our honeymoon and even permitted her to stay in our new home.


    But was Nichs aware of the truth? If he had known about udia''s ulterior motives toward him, would he still have allowed her to be so close to him?


    I had no idea, but it was toote to delve into those matters now.


    "Do you think your life can bepared to my child''s? And to think I''ve treated you as family for four years! Listen, Frances, you''re unworthy. You''ll face legal consequences for your actions!"