Chapter 202
Chapter 202:
“You’re right, Aunt Eleanor,” Aurora said, feigning submissiveness. “I should go.”
She walked past Eleanor. As she turned the corner, her face hardened. The mask of the sad cousin vanished, replaced by the mask of the avenger.
She had the proof. Now she needed the executioner.
Aurora found Matriarch Kensington in her private study. The old woman was reviewing photos from the gala on a tablet, smiling faintly at the image of Aurora checkmating Brenda.
“You did well tonight, child,” the Matriarch said without looking up. “You have your father Edward’s fire.”
Aurora closed the heavy oak door. She locked it.
The click of the lock made the Matriarch look up. She frowned. “What is it?”
Aurora walked to the desk. She placed the purple test strip on the polished mahogany surface.
“Julian isn’t sick,” Aurora stated flatly. “He’s being murdered.”
The Matriarch blinked. She laughed nervously. “Don’t be dramatic, Aurora. The accident—”
“The accident put him in the bed,” Aurora interrupted. “The Thallium is keeping him there.”
She explained the findings. The chemical reaction. The symptoms. The science.
The Matriarch’s face went gray. The tablet slipped from her hands and clattered onto the desk.
“Thallium?” she whispered, her voice trembling. “Poison?”
“Who controls his meds?” Aurora asked. “Who hired Dr. Pym? Who benefits if he dies?”
The Matriarch stared at the wall. “Eleanor,” she breathed out. “My own daughter-in-law. I took her in when my son died. I gave her everything. She raised Sebastian and Vivian here.”
“She raised them on your money while she poisoned your grandson,” Aurora corrected brutally. “She’s been dosing him for nineteen years. To control the estate. To keep you blind.”
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The Matriarch clutched her chest. She gasped for air.
Aurora moved instantly. She went around the desk and pressed a specific point on the Matriarch’s wrist—Pericardium 6. A calming point.
“Breathe,” Aurora commanded gently. “We can’t act yet. Not emotionally. We need proof of the source. We need to catch her holding the bottle.”
The Matriarch looked up at Aurora. She looked aged ten years in ten seconds. The strong iron lady was gone; a grieving grandmother remained.
“I welcomed a viper,” the Matriarch wept. “I let her live in my house. Eat at my table.”
Aurora hugged her. It was the first time she had initiated contact. “Now the viper has to deal with me.”
They pulled apart. The Matriarch wiped her eyes. Her jaw set.
“What do we do?” the Matriarch asked.
“We wait,” Aurora said. “We let her think she’s safe. We let her think I’m just playing chess games. And then… we crush her.”
They agreed to keep the discovery a secret.
Aurora left the study, drained. Her adrenaline was crashing.
Her phone buzzed in her clutch.