Chapter 181: The Foster Sister Has Been Swapped In to Come to Hell

Chapter 181: The Foster Sister Has Been Swapped In to Come to Hell

Suddenly, a maid came running over in a panic.

"This is terrible, Mrs. Brynn Hamilton! Mrs. Clio Hamilton's courtyard is on fire!"

Brynn was startled and quickly got to her feet. "Rita, stay in your room. I'll go take a look and be right back."

Pearl immediately forgot all about the jade pendant and followed along to watch the commotion.

After all, Clio of the Hamilton family was Cressida's biological mother!

Once they left, Rita finally dared to take a deep breath and calm her nerves.

Inside the burning room, Clio was frantically pulling at the door.

"Open up! Open the door! Who locked it from the outside! Cough, cough..."

She had just come back to take her medicine, and when she tried to leave again, she found the door wouldn't open.

Nanny was nowhere to be found. Clio pounded on the door, but no one responded.

Then she suddenly smelled something burning. Black smoke seeped in through the window, and Clio couldn't stop coughing.

The flames quickly followed the smoke, creeping in through the gaps around the window.

Clio completely panicked.

Someone was trying to burn her alive! Who? Cressida?

Impossible. She should be completely tied up dealing with the whole Peter and Rita situation right now!

"Help! Help!" Clio pounded on the door with everything she had.

Gradually, she felt it getting harder to breathe. She slumped against the door and gasped for air like a fish dying out of water.

She couldn't die. She hadn't seen her cousin yet...

By the time Patrick and a group of guests arrived and a servant kicked the door open, Clio tumbled out and collapsed, unconscious, her face black with soot.

The noblewomen were horrified.

Bella quickly ordered the guards, "Go check on Clio right away!"

A guard stepped forward and checked her breathing. "She's still alive."

Bella then sent another guard back to the palace to fetch the royal physician.

Patrick was frantic. "How on earth did a fire start out of nowhere? Where's Cressida? Cressida!"

Cressida walked over with Emma and the others. She looked at the west wing, half of which had burned and collapsed, and frowned slightly.

Then she turned to look at the servants who attended to Clio. Every one of them was hunching their shoulders, too scared to breathe a word.

"Haven't I said many times that Mother is not allowed to brew medicine in her room? Why does no one ever listen?"

Two servants came out from behind the west wing carrying a medicine stove.

Nanny came rushing over at that moment. Patrick snapped at her, "Where have you been?"

"I went to get Mrs. Clio Hamilton's evening medicine." Nanny quickly knelt down and held up the medicine packet with both hands.

Cressida sighed. "We always brew the medicine in the kitchen, but Mother refuses. Every time she makes Nanny bring it back to her room. Today a fire broke out. It was just carelessness."

Nanny was surprised and was about to say something, but then she heard Cressida continue, "Nanny, aren't you going to apologize? Because you weren't there to attend to her, Mother nearly lost her life!"

Nanny was so frightened her mind went completely blank. Something felt off, but she couldn't put her finger on what.

She quickly kowtowed. "Please forgive me, Mr. Patrick Hamilton, Ms. Cressida Hamilton!"

Bella spoke up. "The most important thing is that she's safe. Let the royal physician give Clio a thorough examination later."

Patrick bowed. "Thank you, Your Highness!"

Cressida ordered the servants to carry Clio to another room to rest, and left Ingrid to keep watch.

She turned to leave. Bella linked arms with her, and several socialites gathered around to comfort Cressida.

"Thank goodness they caught the fire early. Why is Clio so stubborn about brewing her own medicine in her room?"

"Ah..." Cressida's voice was heavy. "Ever since Patrick passed away, my mother's health has been poor. She gets confused, and she won't let any of us near her. She even insists on taking her medicine back to her room... Never mind, let's not get into it."

Everyone nodded in understanding. The noblewomen who had sons of their own were especially sympathetic.

Losing your own child — how could anyone accept that? Not losing her mind entirely was already something.

Cressida added, "She used to live in the main courtyard, but she would cry all the time. Everything reminded her of Patrick. How could it not? So Father had her move here, at least for some peace and quiet. We never expected a fire to break out. It's my fault for not looking after things better."

Everyone immediately rushed to defend Cressida and offered their comfort.

"How could this possibly be your fault? If you ask me, Clio is far too stubborn. She nearly got herself killed," Bella said.

Even Anthony stayed close to Cressida's side and said, "No wonder you're always so worried about everything. You really have it hard!"

The people around them looked at Cressida with a new layer of sympathy.

A few of the noblewomen whispered among themselves, saying that Clio had probably lost her mind from the shock of losing her son. It was a shame for her daughter, but thank goodness Ms. Hamilton was so capable and sensible. Otherwise, how could anyone manage such a large ducal household?

The little incident didn't end up affecting the Autumn Feast.

When Cressida led everyone back to their seats, Peter was talking with Jessica. Before long, Rita arrived as well.

Pearl saw that nothing else strange was going to happen and found the banquet rather dull.

After two more rounds of drinks, the banquet came to an end. Brynn stayed by Cressida's side as they saw off each guest.

The royal physician had come earlier, checked Clio's pulse, and said her heart had been weakened. She needed to avoid getting agitated and had to rest and take good care of herself.

Cressida walked the royal physician to the door. "Thank you for making the trip."

The royal physician bowed. "You're too kind, Ms. Hamilton. I'll take my leave."

After he left, Cressida turned around and said coldly, "Close the gates. If anyone comes calling today, say we're not receiving visitors."

She had set that fire on purpose.

She had been away from the banquet for so long that the guests were likely starting to wonder. On top of that, she had to guard against Clio and Rose making another move.

The best way to redirect attention was to create an even bigger crisis that would draw everyone's eyes.

Patrick was waiting for her in the main hall.

"Cressida, what exactly happened today? Brynn heard from a maid that unrelated men entered Rita's room."

"Father, don't worry. I'll have Rita tell you herself, and everything will become clear."

Shortly after, Brynn came in with Rita, and Jessica came along as well.

Jessica looked at Rita with a complicated expression. It was clear that Peter had already told her everything.

Rita walked in and knelt on the floor. "Uncle! Someone nearly destroyed me!"

She told him everything — how Rose had given her the drug, how she had pushed her to trade her virtue for a marriage into the Nguyen family.

Patrick hadn't witnessed the events of the day firsthand, but as he listened, it all played out vividly in his mind.

Brynn was badly shaken. "I can't even imagine — if Cressida hadn't gotten there in time, and I had shown up with a group of guards, and the Gomez family was there too... I don't want to think about what could have happened..."

As she said it, a wave of fear washed over her. Her own daughter had nearly had her reputation destroyed along with it all.

Cressida's voice was ice cold. "Father, we can't let this go. Mr. Nguyen was furious, but he's willing to keep this quiet out of respect for Jessica. Otherwise, the Hamilton Mansion would become the laughingstock of all of Emerald City."

Those words landed like a heavy blow in Patrick's chest. The anger on his face slowly burned hotter.

The moment Patrick thought about Rose using such filthy tactics against his own family — and nearly letting it all spill out in public — his rage became uncontrollable.

Brynn was in tears. "Patrick, this cannot be tolerated. She's our goddaughter. We've treated her well, and she turns around and pushes Rita into something like this. Her heart is rotten!"

"Drag Rose in here!" Patrick slammed his palm on the table. The teacups rattled from the impact.

Cressida sat down beside Patrick as everyone waited in the hall.

Patrick then had a servant bring over a brocade box. When it was opened, inside lay a gold hairpin.

At the sight of the gold hairpin, Cressida's cool, composed face showed not a flicker of emotion.

In her past life, she had lived as though trapped in endless hell. Rose had been one of the people who put her there, and she had played no small part in it.

This time, it was Rose's turn to find out what that felt like.