An Eternity With You

Chapter 203: Poison (3)

"Mari? That’s surprising and out of the blue. I would’ve put all my money on the cook," Aurora never expected Mari to do such a thing but people were always unpredictable. "You can’t stall exposing her. What if Derek is down there accusing the wrong person?"

"I’m not stalling, just enjoying the moment. It’s been a while since someone tried to kill me. I miss the good old days."

Aurora couldn’t believe her ears that Vincent was enjoying someone poisoning him. "It’s a good thing I didn’t worry about this that much. Have fun with your almost death. I’m going to use the bathroom."

Aurora sat up from the bed to use the bathroom while Vincent stared at his ceiling. He liked Mari but he was always fair when it came to things like this. For her to not even admit to Derek what she had done sealed her fake.

"Let’s get this over with," Vincent said, sitting up from the bed to take his game downstairs. He enjoyed teasing those who tried to kill him. The disappointment in their eyes would always brighten up his day.

Vincent opened up his bedroom door and listened to the sound of Derek yelling at someone downstairs. If he allowed Derek to continue the investigation he knew Derek would eventually pick up the skip in Mari’s heartbeat whenever his name was called.

"What happened when Vincent went into the library? Do you mean to tell me no one keeps an eye on Vincent? None of you saw when he returned home which means none of you are looking out for any random person who can enter this home and harm Vincent. Does that sound right?"

"Leave them be Derek. They’re already heartbroken enough over my situation," Vincent said as he walked down the stairs with his hands in his pockets.

His sudden arrival made the house feel chilly to the others present as they weren’t sure if a ghost was standing before them. From what Derek and Mari explained, it sounded like Vincent was going to die but right now he looked better than ever.

Outside of Mari and Derek, everyone thought this was a sick joke being played on them. Why else would Derek and Mari call them here when Vincent was perfectly fine?

"Vincent," Derek muttered, highly surprised to see that he was alive and well. Just a moment ago he couldn’t hear Vincent’s heartbeat and now that he listened, it was loud and clear Vincent was alive. "What the hell is happening?"

Mari hid her mouth with her hand to hide her shocked expression. She was positive Vincent was going to die since the doctor had no cure for the poison. Vincent looked like he had never been poisoned or fainted. "Is this a dream?" Mair asked herself.

She released a sigh thankful that Vincent had not died at her hands. She fulfilled the last part of her debt and Vincent remained alive. Everything worked out in the end as long as Vincent did not have any idea of what she did.

"You scared the hell out of me man. Did Aurora save you or something?" With teary eyes, Derek approached Vincent to give him a hug. Vincent might be a brute but he was still one of Derek’s best friends. "I was ready to kill someone for you man."

"There, there," Vincent patted Derek on the head. It was good to see someone he trusted get so worked up about his potential death. There were a few people who would’ve celebrated the thought of him dying.

"There, there? You damn asshole! I was worried sick over you. If I knew you were fine I would have returned home and not cared about any of this. You could have at least told me you were fine. I thought you were poisoned?" Derek wiped his eyes.

"I was poisoned. All of you can return to your jobs except for Mari. I heard you were the one to find me first," said Vincent.

Mari nodded her head and approached Vincent while the others left. Now, it was only her, Vincent, and Derek left by the stairs.

"I’m sorry for worrying the two of you. I fainted because something seemed to happen to Artemis. I will have to find more information on that. Derek, any clues on who tried to poison me?" Vincent stepped down the last step of the stairs and walked in between Mari and Derek. He glanced at Mari for a second before looking away.

That small eye contact was enough to let Mari know he knew what she had done but he was waiting on her to be the one to admit to it. Mari kept her head down low not wanting to meet Vincent’s eyes for a second time.

"No, but Mari did tell me those witches were here. Why did you hire them again? After the goat situation, I didn’t think you would ever allow them to step foot in here. They are at the top of my suspect list. Mari, are you sure you didn’t see anyone else?" Questioned Derek.

He noticed how much she was sweating and suddenly keeping her head down which was unlike her. The energetic Mari he knew would have run to hug Vincent the moment she learned he was okay.

"Mari, is there something wrong?" Her actions were starting to alarm him but he didn’t think she had anything to do with it.

Maybe she saw who the person was and they threatened her or she knew who it was and felt inclined to protect the person. freewёbnoνel.com

In a situation like this, it was best not to hide the culprit as that person and anyone who helped them was going to be killed for trying to kill the alpha.

"Mari, if there’s anything you know now is the time to tell us before it is too late. I don’t want you-"

"I did it," she confessed.

Though Derek heard her clearly he couldn’t believe her words. Out of all the people working in the house, he never believed Mari would be the one to harm Vincent. After everything Vincent tried to do for her, she turned around and tried to poison him? Did she not see how Vincent was kind to her?

There were better people to become Aurora’s personal maid but Vincent chose Mari even though she had so little experience.

"Are you crazy?" Was the only response Derek could think of at a moment like this. A sane person wouldn’t harm someone who looked out for her. "Vincent, Victor, me, Jane, and everyone who works here have been nothing but kind to you. You know what harming Vincent meant so why would you do such a thing? None of us will ever trust or forgive you."

"I-I’m sorry. My parents had more debt and we were being threatened because I wasn’t working enough to make the money back in time. The condition of clearing the debt was to poison you so I had to do it. It was you or my family and I chose my family," Mari tearfully admitted. Of all the things she had to do to pay off her parent’s debts, this was the hardest.

Her youngest sibling’s life was at risk if she didn’t do as she was told.

"This entire time you have been waiting to poison Vincent? You were pretending this whole time-"

"No!" Mari interrupted Derek. "I had the bottle with me the entire time but I did care for all of you. I was never fake with my feelings. I just..."

"Never fake? It’s fake when you smile in his face knowing you plan to kill him!" Derek yelled pointing at Vincent who was simply observing the conversation. "Why didn’t you just tell us who the debt was with or that you were being threatened? We would’ve found a way to help you and your family."

"He showed us how easy it would be for him to get to my family before Vincent could try to save us. My little brother’s arm was broken as an example," said Mari.

"It’s a sad situation but you should know you will be punished for it. I won’t be biased because it is you. All who try to harm me must be punished. Me being alive does not remove you from being punished because your intent to kill me was clear. Now, when do you report to my uncle?" Vincent already knew it had to be his uncle.

"How did you..." Mari trailed off realizing it wasn’t her place to ask questions. "Every night I am taken to his house along with a sibling and I must repeat everything you did in the day. He is not in the community so therefore I have to wait until one of his men visits me."

"The more you talk the more frustrated I am," Derek huffed trying to calm down his anger. She could have been sharing important things with Graham. "It’s a good thing we never discussed our plans in the open. What are you going to do now? Graham will just toss her aside if we claim he ordered her to do this."

"Simple. I am going to continue dying."