Chapter 109: Trying Every Means to Drive Her Away
Cressida frowned: "How did you let Mark in?"
Emma said: "Noah said if we didn't let Mark in, Mark would make a huge scene outside. Mr. Hamilton was afraid things would get out of hand, so he allowed him to enter."
Cressida stood up and headed toward the main house.
On this midsummer night, the insects chirped noisily.
Cressida walked through the hot, sticky evening breeze. When she arrived at the main house, she found only Patrick inside—he was leaning against the table, dejected and full of worry, his expression anxious and uneasy.
"Where's Mark?" Cressida asked.
Patrick looked up at her, his eyes full of deep reproach: "Noah just sent him away."
So quickly?
Cressida frowned: "What did he say?"
Patrick stared at her intently, his lowered voice filled with barely contained resentment: "You have the nerve to ask? You should never have spared his life back then—you should have killed him! He knows about you disguising yourself as a man, and he's using it to blackmail me, demanding thirty thousand dollars!"
Patrick stood up and approached her step by step, looking almost crazed with anxiety: "Cressida, look at the trouble you've left behind! Is this your ability to lead troops in battle!"
Cressida questioned: "Father agreed to give it to him?"
Patrick looked exhausted: "I agreed. I'll have someone deliver the money in three days."
"Foolish!" Cressida scolded sharply. "What real evidence does he have? If he really had any, he would have exposed it already. He's extorting you, and you fell for it!"
She immediately turned and walked to the door, calling out to Verity: "Go after him! Don't let him get away."
Patrick refused to admit his oversight and slammed his hand on the table: "Chase him for what? Are you afraid things aren't messy enough? If he dares to come to our door so confidently, someone must be behind him. Besides, he was once part of the Blade of Victory who fought alongside you—he knows you too well!"
"Think carefully about who you've offended. Our family's position today wasn't easy to achieve. Do you have to destroy the whole family before you're satisfied!"
Cressida remained silent, but Patrick wouldn't let it go: "I told you long ago to keep a low profile after coming back, but you wouldn't listen. Now look, you've attracted attention."
"Father..."
"What do we do? If we give him the money and he still goes to His Majesty to report us, then we..." Patrick just kept muttering to himself, venting his inner panic.
"Father!" Cressida grabbed his collar and shouted to stop him. "Nothing will happen!"
Patrick snapped out of his extreme fear, his forehead covered in cold sweat. He stared at Cressida, wanting to get angry, but his lips trembled uncontrollably: "I should never have let you stay in Emerald City all this time, otherwise we wouldn't have brought this disaster upon ourselves."
Cressida released his collar, her tone icy: "You're panicking for no reason. Even if His Majesty finds out, he won't take our lives."
"You make it sound so easy? Disguising yourself as a man and faking your death—that's a serious crime of deceiving the royal family! Two charges combined, at best we'll lose our title, at worst our property will be confiscated!"
Cressida looked directly at him: "It won't happen. As long as the Blade of Victory still exists, my reputation won't fade. His Majesty won't go to extremes, to avoid shaking military morale."
Patrick's breathing grew more rapid: "You rebellious daughter! A matter concerning the entire family's lives, and you still dare to be so cold at a time like this!"
Cressida and Patrick parted on bad terms.
Cressida returned to her room with a cold expression. Not long after, Verity came back.
"Ms. Hamilton, we didn't catch up with Mark. By the time we went after him, he had already disappeared."
"He couldn't have gotten away that fast. Someone must have been waiting for him."
"It must be so, otherwise he would never dare to provoke The Hamilton Mansion so rashly." Verity said with certainty.
Cressida closed her eyes. Patrick had gotten himself into big trouble. If it were someone else trying to extort him, he might not be so afraid, but seeing an old member of the Blade of Victory, he completely lost his composure! And he agreed to give Mark thirty thousand dollars—once this matter is exposed, that would be the real evidence against them.
Cressida took a deep breath: "Everyone leave."
The room became completely quiet, with only the night breeze occasionally blowing in through the open window. She closed her eyes, and in her ears, she seemed to hear again the clanging sounds of weapons and horses from the military fortress.
Back then, Mark had led three thousand cavalry and was supposed to flank and ambush the enemy according to her orders. Unexpectedly, Mark encountered twenty thousand elite enemy troops on the road and actually disobeyed military orders, immediately turning back to camp with his cavalry. His desertion betrayed his comrades fighting alongside him. Fortunately, Cressida led troops to break through the enemy's city, otherwise they would have been the ones surrounded and slaughtered.
After returning to camp, Cressida decided to execute Mark according to military law. Mark knelt on the ground begging: "General Hamilton, please spare my life! I still have a blind mother at home, and my family is desperately poor. She only has me as her child. If I die, how will my mother survive!"
Cressida responded coldly: "I will support your mother for you."
"General Hamilton!" Mark cried out hoarsely, "In a past battle, I took several arrows to protect you! You once said we had a life-and-death bond—have you forgotten all that?"
Cressida looked down at him: "On the battlefield, only merit and fault matter, not personal feelings. You deserted—if I spare you, I would be wronging the other comrades who fought bravely."
As soon as she finished speaking, Cressida raised her blade and severed his leg tendons, then had him thrown into Wolf's Den Execution Ground. Three days later, Cressida sent someone to check—only a few wolf corpses remained in Wolf's Den Execution Ground, and Mark had long since disappeared.
She knew clearly that in the past, she had always been soft-hearted toward the soldiers who risked their lives fighting alongside her. If she hadn't died so miserably in her previous life, she wouldn't have learned the lesson about being soft-hearted.
This life is different. If she could do it over, she would never spare Mark. But now he's still alive, becoming the biggest threat, appearing rashly and disrupting her plan to reclaim her achievements.
Whether they give him this money or not, there will be problems. Cressida didn't know exactly what evidence Mark had, but she could be certain that whoever was behind Mark would spare no effort to spread rumors about her identity. When enough people become suspicious, trouble will naturally arise.
She wasn't fully prepared to deal with Doyle yet, and didn't have enough leverage. Could this be what Yosef meant by "good luck to you"?
Cressida sat in the darkness without lighting a lamp. Her posture was as upright as jade, her back straight. After a long while, she slowly stood and walked to the window. The midsummer night breeze brushed across her face, making her expression even more calm and composed.
She called Emma over: "Go tell Father that when the money is delivered in three days, I'll go myself."
Emma was slightly startled but didn't ask why, and turned to leave. Cressida already had a plan in mind.
The weather remained hot.
Clio leaned against a soft pillow, lowering her head to finish a bowl of medicine. When Nanny looked up, she happened to see Patrick walking in.
"Mr. Hamilton." Nanny stepped forward to greet him.
Patrick's face was gloomy, with dark circles under his eyes, making his expression even more sinister: "You go out first. I need to speak with Clio alone."
Nanny glanced at Clio, then left with the medicine bowl.
Patrick sat down beside Clio: "Last time you mentioned introducing a man to Cressida—is he still in Emerald City?"
Clio paused: "Mr. Hamilton means Wilder, right? When I saw you weren't interested, I declined on your behalf. Whether he's left Emerald City or not, we'd have to send someone to find out." After speaking, she took the initiative to ask, "What happened?"
Patrick pressed his lips together, glanced back at the door, and said in a low, serious voice: "An old member of the Blade of Victory came to our door. He can recognize that Cressida is Cameron! We can't wait any longer. We must marry Cressida off as soon as possible, before more problems arise."
If this happens a few more times, he really won't be able to handle it.
Clio pretended to be surprised: "Really? That's truly a disaster. This matter does need to be handled quickly."
Patrick: "I'm leaving this to you to push forward, and make it fast! Take Cressida's birth date to calculate marriage compatibility. Once things are more or less settled, then tell her."
Clio thought for a moment: "But Mr. Hamilton, Cressida will find out sooner or later. You can't tie her up and drag her into the wedding hall. If she really makes a scene, no one in the house can beat her."
Patrick's eyes were sinister: "Then what do you suggest?"
Clio hesitated, but finally shook her head: "Never mind, this method isn't good. I am her biological mother after all, and I can't bear to treat her this way."
"Speak up! The situation is already so critical, what do you have to hide?"
"I was thinking of giving her some muscle relaxant. That way she can't resist, but it won't harm her life. What does Mr. Hamilton think of this method?"
"Well, that works. Let's do that." Patrick pondered. "After all, it's for her own good. Otherwise, if things really blow up, it won't be good for the whole family. As for this medicine..."
Clio: "I'll have Nanny buy it. I guarantee no one will find out."
After Patrick left, a cold smile appeared at the corner of Clio's lips.
Rose rushed over after hearing the news: "Mother, Father didn't suspect anything, did he?"
Clio sneered: "He's already so anxious and overwhelmed, how would he have time to suspect anything else? But Mark won't expose us, will he?"
"He won't. His Highness Yosef has already warned him, unless he dares to oppose His Highness Yosef."
"That's good." A gleam flashed in Clio's eyes. "With Mr. Hamilton's temperament, sooner or later he won't be able to tolerate Cressida. Once she's driven out of The Hamilton Mansion, you'll be my only daughter."
Clio embraced Rose, her expression full of affection. Rose suppressed her discomfort and leaned into Clio's arms without struggling.
Clio got one thing wrong—Rose didn't just want Cressida driven out of The Hamilton Mansion and stripped of her noble status. Rose wanted Cressida dead!