Chapter 381 A Life for a Life

Chapter 381 A Life for a Life

Ryder arranged for someone to take Helena back to her hometown for a visit, and she brought back quite a few medical books about witchcraft.

Harriet studied medicine and had always loved medical books. Whenever she had free time, she would read and study them.

Because witchcraft wasn't just used to harm people - it could also save them.

"Mrs. Lancaster." Helena came in carrying a bowl of soup. "Drink this soup. Even if it doesn't work against the witchcraft in your body, it won't have any side effects either."

"Thank you."

Harriet took the bowl and drank it all in one go.

"Mrs. Lancaster, you're such a dedicated learner. You've already read through half the book so quickly."

"The content is quite interesting. I got absorbed and read this much without realizing it."

"That's really impressive. When I was learning this stuff, I couldn't get into it at all. My mom had to beat me several times before I forced myself to study it."

Harriet laughed. "That's what it's like when you're young."

"Fewer and fewer people know witchcraft now. I'm worried it'll be lost someday."

Harriet said, "If witchcraft is used to harm people like Tamsin did, then it would be good if it were lost."

"But according to the medical books, witchcraft was originally used to treat illnesses."

"Yes, our living environment has many poisonous things. Witchcraft that includes poison is itself highly toxic, but it can also cure all poisons..."

Harriet nodded. "So everything has two sides."

"It's getting late, Mrs. Lancaster. You should rest early."

"No rush. I'm going to check on Coralie."

Harriet put down the medical book and got up to go to the third floor.

Qiana was already asleep, and Coralie sat on the nearby sofa, focused on her embroidery.

"Coralie." Harriet called to her in a low voice.

"Harriet, you're here." Coralie stood up to greet her. "Come sit."

"I came to see how you're doing. Are you adjusting well to living here?"

"I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me."

"You look like you're doing well."

Coralie nodded. "Harriet, I've never felt this relaxed before."

"Before, I spent every day hoping Caspian would come home, praying he'd look at me even once. The more I hoped, the more disappointed I became."

"But now it's different. I can be sure of the path I'm on, sure that I can take good care of Qiana, and I can do things I enjoy. I feel really grounded."

"That's good." Harriet picked up her embroidery. "This is really well done. Just don't wear yourself out - make sure to rest."

"Don't worry, I'll definitely take good care of myself so I can take good care of Qiana." Coralie asked, "Harriet, did you video call Mr. Lancaster today?"

"He's so clingy, he'd love to make eight hundred video calls a day."

Coralie couldn't help but laugh. "You say that, but you really miss him, don't you?"

"Of course." Harriet rested her head on the sofa. "I miss him so much. I want to hold him and kiss him, but I can only think about it."

"Harriet, I don't know why, but I have this feeling that you two will have a happy ending."

"I hope you're right." Harriet stood up. "I'm going to bed. You should sleep early too."

"Okay."

Harriet returned to the master bedroom and went to close the window when she suddenly noticed a black luxury car parked at the door.

She froze for a moment, then quickly realized what it was and couldn't help but smile.

Harriet picked up her phone and made a call.

"Harriet." Caspian answered quickly.

"Caspian, why aren't you home sleeping? Why are you parked outside my house this late at night?"

"You're not asleep either, are you?"

"But I'm not waiting outside someone's door." Harriet teased, "Is there someone at my house you really want to see?"

"Of course." Caspian admitted openly. "I miss Qiana."

"Qiana's already asleep at this hour, but if you want to see her, you can still come in."

"No." Caspian said, "Another time."

"Then hurry home and rest."

"Okay."

Caspian hung up the phone and laughed at himself.

He never liked wasting time, yet somehow he'd been sitting here for half an hour.

Coralie soon completed an embroidery piece and gave it to Harriet to check.

Harriet was very satisfied. "Coralie, your hands are so skilled. This is exquisite!"

"I'm glad you like it."

"I love it. Keep making more, I'll take everything you make." Harriet said, "You're doing this to earn money, so I'll pay you based on each piece."

"Whatever you think is fair. My needs aren't high - as long as I can support myself and Qiana, that's enough."

"No problem. And Caspian will provide child support too."

"The money Caspian gives, I'll save for Qiana. When she turns eighteen, I'll give it all to her to manage herself."

"That sounds good."

With Coralie there, Harriet had company.

In the afternoons when both children were asleep, the two of them would sit together - one doing embroidery, the other reading medical books.

Harriet was propping her head up with one hand when she suddenly made a sound of surprise.

Coralie was curious. "Harriet, what is it?"

Harriet didn't answer her question. Instead, she turned to look at a servant standing nearby. "Go ask Ms. Rodriguez to come here."

"Yes, Mrs. Lancaster."

Helena arrived quickly. "Mrs. Lancaster, you wanted to see me?"

"Ms. Rodriguez, I remember you told me before that witchcraft with poison added can cure all poisons, right?"

"Yes."

"Everything has its natural enemy - fighting poison with poison. So if we could create a witchcraft that cures all poisons, wouldn't that be able to counter the witchcraft in my body?"

Helena fell into thought. "In theory, this method could work, but it's never been tested. The risk would be deadly too."

Harriet smiled calmly. "I'm not just guessing randomly. It's recorded in the medical book - look."

Helena took the medical book and looked closely. "It really is. It's my fault for rarely looking at these old books at the bottom of the chest. I didn't know about this. But Mrs. Lancaster, you also saw what it says here - this method should be used with extreme caution. If you're not careful and something goes wrong, you could die on the spot."

"Yes, one witchcraft is deadly enough, let alone two." Harriet sighed. "My body seems fine now, but my life is still in Griffin's hands, and I still can't see Tristan. Honestly, I don't want to live like this, so I'd rather take the risk."

"Mrs. Lancaster, do you mean you want to try this?"

"Yes." Harriet said firmly. "I want to try."

"Harriet, this is too dangerous." Coralie said urgently. "You should discuss it with Mr. Lancaster first."

"He can't know about this." Harriet said seriously. "He won't agree."

"Never mind Mr. Lancaster - I can't agree to this either." Coralie said anxiously. "You're perfectly fine right now. There's no need to take this kind of risk."

"Coralie, you're not me. You can't understand how I feel." Harriet smiled. "I just hope everything can end quickly and everyone can return to normal life."

"But Harriet..."

"Listen to me on this." Harriet interrupted her. "Besides, we're just discussing it now. We don't even have a clue about the antidote witchcraft yet."

Helena said, "If Mrs. Lancaster has made up her mind, I'll start preparing right away."

"Thank you for your help."

"Emberfall isn't suitable. If I want to create this kind of witchcraft, I'll have to go back to my hometown."

Here's the translation:

"I'll have someone take you back. I'll be waiting for good news."

"Okay."

Seeing how determined Harriet was, Coralie didn't say anything more.

They'd wait until Helena brought back the witchcraft.

The next afternoon, Coralie went out.

She'd run out of embroidery materials and needed to buy more.

There was a street in Emberfall that specialized in selling these materials.

But cars couldn't go in - you had to walk.

The bodyguard parked the car and went shopping with Coralie.

Coralie had a lot to buy, and it took over an hour to get everything.

"Ms. Walker, there's too much stuff for us to carry it all. Wait here while I take some of it to the car first."

"I'll help you."

"No need. Just wait here. Remember, don't wander off. Mrs. Lancaster told me I must keep you safe."

"Don't worry."

Coralie waited where she was and took out her phone to call Harriet.

The call had just connected when Coralie suddenly felt a sharp pain in her neck. Her vision went black instantly, and she lost consciousness!

The phone fell from her hand, and Harriet's voice came through: "Coralie?... Why aren't you saying anything? Coralie? Coralie!"

The bodyguard had just loaded the items into the car when he received a call from Harriet.

"Mrs. Lancaster, you're looking for me?"

"Where's Coralie?"

"Ms. Walker is with me."

"She's with you?"

"No, I'm at the car loading things right now."

Harriet said urgently, "Go find her now! Something must have happened to her!"

The bodyguard didn't even lock the car. He immediately ran back to where they'd been, and sure enough, Coralie was gone. Her phone was lying on the ground.

"Mrs. Lancaster, something really did happen to Ms. Walker!"

Ryder pulled up the surveillance footage from the scene. It clearly showed two men in black, fully armed, knocking Coralie out and taking her away.

Although there weren't many people around, some passersby saw what happened and tried to stop them, but the two men pulled out guns to scare them off and quickly took Coralie away.

Caspian rushed back to Cloud Bay as soon as he got the news.

"What's going on with Coralie? At a time like this, couldn't she just stay put instead of causing trouble?"

"Caspian, how can you say that? This is my fault. I just told her to bring bodyguards when going out. I didn't think she'd only bring one."

"How is this your fault?"

"Of course it's my fault." Harriet pointed at the men in black on the surveillance screen. "Although we can't see their faces, from their build I can tell - he's one of Griffin's men. I saw him when Griffin took me before. Griffin kidnapped Coralie to threaten me. I got Coralie into this."

"Griffin?" Caspian laughed coldly. "Looks like he really has run out of people to target - he's even going after Coralie now. What makes him think I'd let him manipulate me for Coralie's sake?"

"Even if you won't, I have to save Coralie." Harriet took out her phone. "I'm calling him right now."

The call connected, and Griffin answered quickly. "Harriet, you're looking for me?"

"Let Coralie go." Harriet got straight to the point.

"You really won't waste a single word talking to me." Griffin chuckled. "Then I won't beat around the bush either. If you want me to let Coralie go, fine - one life for another."

"Whose life do you want?"

"Don't worry, I won't take Tristan's life, or anyone else you care about."

"Then whose life do you want?"

"Didn't Tristan find you some old woman to break the witchcraft? Her life for Coralie's life - it's worth it."

"So you want to cut off all my paths to breaking the witchcraft." Harriet closed her eyes. "If you knew me at all, you'd know I'd never agree. Ms. Rodriguez came to help me. I could never repay kindness with harm."

"Harriet, adults have to learn to make choices." Griffin said with a laugh. "Haven't you learned that yet?"

"I know you're kind-hearted, but having a stranger die is better than Coralie dying, right?"

"Qiana is still so young. Do you have the heart to let her lose her mother?"

Harriet smiled. "Griffin, I finally understand - you don't want me dead. You just want to torture me, to turn me into someone like you through one difficult choice after another."

"Harriet, have you ever thought that maybe we were meant to be the same kind of person?"

"We should have been the same, but you chose hatred, which is why we ended up on opposite paths, isn't it?" Harriet said hoarsely. "Stop hurting innocent people, or your sins will only grow deeper."

"At this point, do I still care about my sins?" Griffin laughed. "I'm only giving you one day. Hand over that old woman, or Coralie will definitely die."

"Griffin!" Harriet had just started to speak when the call was disconnected.

"Mrs. Lancaster, what do we do now?" Ryder asked anxiously. "Ms. Rodriguez went back home. Should we bring her here?"

Harriet looked at Caspian. "What do you think?"

Caspian frowned slightly. "In my view, of course a stranger isn't as important as Qiana's mother, but you're leading this, so it's not my place to interfere. Harriet, I know you're the one struggling most. You can't harm the innocent Ms. Rodriguez, but you also can't bear to let something happen to Coralie. So I can't give my opinion and force you to make a decision."

"My mind is a mess right now." Harriet gripped her phone tightly. "Ryder, have someone bring Ms. Rodriguez back first."

Ryder nodded. "Yes."

Helena was brought back to Emberfall overnight.

"Mrs. Lancaster, didn't we agree I'd go back to prepare the witchcraft? Why did you suddenly bring me back?"

"It's nothing." Harriet smiled. "Just stay in your room and don't go anywhere."

"I'll do as you say."

Harriet returned to the master bedroom and video called Tristan.

Tristan answered quickly. "Honey."

"Ms. Rodriguez is back."

"Don't overthink it. Get some good sleep first."

"Griffin is ruthless. He might really kill Coralie." Harriet lowered her eyes. "If Coralie dies because of me, I'll never be okay."

"Let's not talk about this now." Tristan's heart ached. "Did you drink the calming tea?"

"I don't want to."

"If you don't rest properly, you won't be able to think of a way to save Coralie. Be good, listen to me."

Harriet's nose tingled. "Tristan, I miss you so much."

The smile on Tristan's face froze. "Honey, I'm sorry. I'm useless - I've let you suffer."

Harriet shook her head gently. "It's not your fault. We just have difficult fates."

"Mrs. Lancaster!"

The door was suddenly pounded heavily, and a bodyguard's anxious voice came from outside: "Ms. Rodriguez has run away for some reason!"