chapter 2

I'd never seen James this mad.

Not even when I had a miscarriage two years ago.

Back then, he held my hand the whole time—steady and gentle.

I asked him why he wasn't angry. He said as long as I was alive, it didn't matter if we had kids.

Now I see—it was just indifference.

Because he didn't care, nothing could shake him.

At James's urging, the family doctor rushed in to check Evelyn.

After checking, the doctor said, "Miss Johnson must've accidentally eaten pennyroyal. Luckily, it wasn't much, or it could've been bad.

"It could have caused a miscarriage."

"What?!" James's face darkened. He turned to the maid.

The maid clasped her hands and said, "Sir, I swear I don't know. Miss Johnson just had a sip of chicken soup this morning."

As if remembering something, the maid suddenly turned to me. "I know now! It was Mrs. Carter who made the chicken soup this morning. If you're looking for answers, you should be asking her, sir."

I froze and caught the glimpse of smugness on Evelyn's face.

I knew it. Another one of her tricks.

James frowned at me. "Ava, what's going on?"

"Yeah, I made the soup, but I—" I asked.

But Evelyn cut me off before I could finish, "Ava, why would you do this to me?"

Tears filled her eyes, her face pale as a ghost, as she played the victim. "Is it because I'm carrying James's kid? I know my place. I'd never dare compete with you. I've been backing off again and again.

"The last time you pushed me down, I didn't tell James. Why are you hurting me like this?"

Her tears fell fast, one after another.

"Ava, you've gone too far! Apologize to Evelyn!!" James didn't give me a chance to speak; his tone was firm, almost like an order.

"I didn't! I didn't put pennyroyal in her soup! You can go check with the doctor if you don't believe me!" I said.

I rushed downstairs to the kitchen, ready to prove to him that there wasn't any pennyroyal in the soup.

When I lifted the lid, the pot was full of pennyroyal.

I froze, hands shaking uncontrollably.

No... No way.

The doctor followed closely and, seeing the scene, gasped. "The whole pot is pennyroyal—and it's the strongest kind!

"This... they used pennyroyal as a regular ingredient?"

When I looked up, I met James's dark, piercing eyes. "Ava, got anything else to say?"

"I... it wasn't me, I—" I was at a loss for words.

"I told you, once Evelyn gives birth, she's gone! Why can't you just let her be? Or do you want to end my family line?" James said.

I'd never heard him talk to me like that.

I tried to explain, but he interrupted, "Fine. Then spend a day in the storage room to calm down. Bring her in," he ordered the housekeeper standing nearby.

"The storage room? No! I'm not going in there!" I said.