Chapter 116 Michael Pretends to Be Crazy and Acts Foolishly
Rose knelt down, sobbing softly.
"Mother, it's all my fault. That day Michael overheard me discussing with Nanny about giving Cressida the bone-softening powder. I was afraid he'd tell on me, and when I accidentally pulled him, Michael hit his head."
Clio listened with alarm, glaring at Rose: "You were too reckless. Michael is your brother after all!"
Rose lowered her head in shame.
However, Michael still protected her.
"Mother, if it weren't for Rose, how would I have woken up?"
That day after the fall, he only passed out for an hour before waking up.
That's when Rose realized this accidental fall had cured Michael's mental disability.
Michael recalled his experiences during this time and initially wanted to immediately report Cressida to Patrick.
But Rose stopped him.
Rose told Michael that if he went to tell Patrick, it would alert their enemy.
True revenge meant staying hidden beside Cressida and striking hard when she least expected it!
Michael listened to Rose and pretended to fall into the well. When he woke up, he continued acting crazy and foolish.
After hearing all this, Clio only felt that Michael had suffered.
"Michael, Mabel probably didn't treat you well during this time, did she?" Clio asked.
At the mention of Mabel, Michael's snake-like eyes revealed a sinister gleam.
"Mabel put on an act, seeming to treat me well, but I knew she only did it to ease her guilty conscience. She took away Mother's household management rights and conspired with Cressida—she was already in the wrong!"
"Michael, you're so devoted. My love for you wasn't wasted." Clio was deeply moved.
She asked again: "What about Mabel's injury?"
Michael didn't deny it: "I stabbed her! I wanted her dead, but she was lucky enough to survive. What a shame."
He had deliberately followed Mabel up the mountain. Just thinking about how Mabel had been conspiring with Cressida these days to suppress Clio made Michael wish death upon everyone connected to Mabel!
So that morning, before dawn, he quietly snuck into Mabel's room.
He originally planned to smother her directly.
Who would have thought Mabel would suddenly wake up? Michael panicked a bit, but Mabel sat up and asked: "Michael, why are you here? Are you feeling unwell?"
Michael lied, saying he was hungry and came to Mabel's room looking for food.
Mabel smiled and sat up, saying: "Let me get you something. You didn't eat enough at the vegetarian meal and woke up hungry, right?"
She turned around to search through the trunk she'd brought. That's when Michael pulled out the dagger he'd prepared and thrust it deep into her back.
Unfortunately, he didn't have a proper weapon. The dagger he brought was very short—Mabel had given it to him to play with, for whittling branches. It was even shorter than his pinky finger.
He used so much force—if it had been a normal dagger, it would have gone straight through Mabel!
At the time, Michael thought with all that blood, Mabel surely wouldn't survive.
So he took all the valuables, along with the murder weapon, creating the appearance of a robbery-murder.
Rose worried: "What if Mabel survives and identifies Michael?"
A vicious gleam flashed in Clio's eyes.
"We can't give her a chance to wake up."
"What should we do? There are many guards around Mabel's courtyard now."
"Don't worry," Clio said. "She's on death's door. The household management rights will definitely be returned to me. When that happens, there'll be plenty of ways to make her die without anyone knowing."
Rose breathed a sigh of relief: "Good. We'll just say she died from her injuries. After all, she was hurt so badly, she couldn't have survived anyway."
Meanwhile, Cressida went to Brynn's courtyard.
She sat in the main hall while Brynn timidly sat in the lower seat, accompanied by Reid.
Facing Cressida, the couple showed identical cowering fear.
It made it seem as if Cressida was the true master of this courtyard.
"Brynn, I'm asking you one last time. The morning Mabel was attacked, did you really hear nothing, know nothing? You live right next door to her."
Brynn flinched at the question, her eyes darting away.
Her voice was barely audible: "I was sleeping too deeply. I didn't hear anything."
Cressida wanted to press further, but Brynn was so frightened she started crying.
Brynn said bluntly: "Ms. Hamilton, I'm afraid of you. I really don't know anything about this."
Seeing Brynn crying uncontrollably, Reid quickly said: "Cressida, Brynn is an honest person. With her timid personality, if she'd seen anything she couldn't hide it. Please stop pressuring her."
Cressida slowly stood up.
"Brynn, you've been frightened, so you might have overlooked some details. But that's fine—I'll come ask again in a few days." After delivering this oppressively authoritative statement, Cressida turned and left.
After she left, Brynn cried bitterly.
Reid asked: "Cressida just asked you a few questions. Why are you so scared?"
Brynn sobbed: "Did you see Cressida's eyes? They looked like she wanted to kill someone."
Cressida walked along the corridor. The fierce midday sun fell on her, but it couldn't dispel the coldness in her heart.
The summer scenery in the garden remained brilliant, yet she was brewing a storm.
"Ms. Hamilton, Mrs. Hamilton seems too scared to tell us anything."
"Let Brynn stew for now. She definitely knows something, but she's too afraid of dying to say it," Cressida said. "Ingrid, clean out the narrow courtyard next to mine. Emma, you and Verity go move all of Michael's things to the narrow courtyard."
Ingrid was startled: "Ms. Hamilton, you want Mr. Hamilton to live next to you?"
Cressida's eyes were deep, revealing a murderous intent.
"Michael is definitely involved. I can't let him get away."
Although everyone told Cressida that Mabel was injured by a greedy bandit, something didn't add up.
At that hour before dawn, when Mabel hadn't even gotten up yet, how could the wound be on her back?
When facing a criminal, a person would never expose their back to the enemy.
Only someone trusted, someone you weren't guarded against, would have the opportunity to stab you from behind.
Both Brynn and Michael were suspects, but after seeing Brynn's reaction just now, Cressida suspected Michael even more.
Moving Michael over went smoothly.
Cressida only mentioned it once to Patrick, and he immediately agreed.
It seemed he naturally assumed that with Mabel down, someone had to manage the household—it was Cressida before, and it could be Cressida now.
As long as these trivial matters weren't brought before him to bother him.
Clio came to Cressida's place again, wanting to cause trouble, but after just a few words, Emma chased her out with a broom.
The courtyard gate closed, and Clio's furious scolding could still be heard. She cursed Cressida as a heartless scum.
Meanwhile, Michael stood in the courtyard, grinning foolishly at Cressida.
His eyes seemed pure and innocent, without a trace of ulterior motive.
Emma deliberately led him to catch and eat ants, and he actually swallowed them.
Cressida watched all this, her eyes darkening slightly.
From then on, she no longer restricted him, but let him come and go freely, including his visits to Clio—Cressida turned a blind eye.
On the third day after Mabel's injury, an unexpected person arrived at the estate.