Chapter 255

The stairwell fell silent.

Abigail's expression changed several times before settling into disbelief.

"What kind of joke is this? My mother died a long time ago..."

Halfway through her words, she suddenly realized something. Her brow furrowed in shock.

Maria's voice echoed in the stairwell.

"Why do you think I kept that photo?"

"Edith is the Hughes family's missing daughter. Her mother is the woman Mr. Hughes has been searching for all this time."

"If Mr. Hughes finds out the truth about what happened back then, none of us will escape!"

Abigail's face turned deathly pale. Her heart condition nearly flared up.

So that was it.

Edith was the Hughes family's daughter!

Why was that bitch so lucky! Even heaven was on her side!

"That's not true. I'm the Hughes family's daughter." She refused to accept it. "You're just trying to trick me into helping you. I won't fall for it."

Maria said, "If you don't believe me, go get a paternity test done right now. Then everything will be clear."

Abigail grabbed her arm, her expression twisted with obsession.

"If you want me to believe you, then go kill that bitch! Once she's dead, everything will be solved!"

"No one will pursue what happened back then anymore. I'll have my donor. You're my mother—you wouldn't just watch me die from lack of a donor, would you?!"

Maria was alarmed and tried to shake off her hand, but Abigail gripped her tightly.

"You already have one murder on your hands anyway. What's one more? If Edith lives and the Hughes family finds out, we'll have nowhere to go. If Edith dies, at least I'll be safe!"

Abigail stared at her face, eyes wild.

Maria fell silent for a moment before finally nodding in agreement.

"You're right. We have no way out."

As long as Edith died and Abigail secured her position as the Hughes family's heiress, she would still have won over that bitch!

That evening.

Edith, Anna, and Christopher went out to dinner.

Christopher had helped her after all. By any measure, Edith should show her appreciation. Anna wanted to go out anyway, so Edith invited Christopher along.

On their way from downstairs to the private room, many people recognized Edith and Christopher, speculating about their relationship.

Anna heard the murmurs and couldn't help glancing at the two beside her.

Just as she was about to say something, Edith's phone rang.

Seeing the name on the screen, Edith frowned slightly.

After she answered, Maria's voice filled the private room.

"Edith, you want to know how your mother died, don't you? Come to the Langley family tomorrow. I'll tell you in person."

Edith remembered when Claire had used a similar excuse during her kidnapping.

But after only a few seconds of hesitation, she agreed.

At this point, she didn't think Maria had any reason to lie.

"Fine."

Maria added, "Come alone."

Edith pressed her lips together. "Okay."

Seeing her agree, Maria seemed unwilling to say another word and hung up immediately.

"Edith, have you forgotten what happened last time?" Anna had heard their conversation and was anxious.

Edith said, "Which is why I'm not planning to go alone."

She looked at Christopher. Before she could speak, Christopher already understood what she meant.

"I'll have people follow you secretly."

Only then did Anna relax a little.

The next day, before Edith left, Christopher gave her a small locator with an alarm function.

"I'll be with them near the Langley family, watching. If anything goes wrong, press the button."

Edith accepted it, separated from Christopher's people, and drove to the Langley family herself.

Soon, she arrived at Langley Villa.

Edith opened the door and went inside.

The villa was eerily quiet.

After the Langley family was suppressed, Mike had dismissed all the servants to save money.

Maria sat on the sofa. Seeing her enter, something flickered in her eyes before quickly turning cold.

She hadn't expected Edith to actually dare to come.

"I'm here. Mrs. Langley can tell me now—how exactly did my mother die?" Edith looked at her calmly.

Maria stood up from the sofa. "Follow me."

Edith frowned and followed her upstairs, stopping at the door of Dione's former room.

The door opened. Inside had been completely converted into a storage room. Not a trace of Dione's presence remained.

Edith's heart ached.

Maria's voice, laden with meaning, sounded beside her ear.

"That bitch died in this very room all those years ago. She picked it herself."

Hearing how she referred to Dione, Edith's expression turned cold.

Seeing the emotion on Edith's face, hatred surfaced in Maria's eyes.

"Are you angry that I call her that? Too bad. I'm not wrong. She was a complete and utter bitch."

"Mike loved her his whole life, and she actually thought Mike was her dog. So she obediently took all the medicine Mike gave her, never knowing how much slow-acting poison was mixed in!"

Hearing how Dione died, Edith quickly recalled the abnormalities during Dione's final days.

Dione's health had never been good. After taking her medicine each time, instead of improving, her condition worsened.

Edith had worried every time, but Dione always comforted her, saying things would get better.

And she'd been naive enough to believe it.

If she'd discovered it earlier, could Dione have been saved?

Thinking of this possibility, Edith's face turned deathly pale.

Watching her reaction, Maria felt nothing but satisfaction.

"Did you always think Mike treated you badly?"

Since this little bitch was about to die anyway, Maria didn't mind telling her more.

The more pain she suffered, the happier Maria felt.

It was like seeing that woman suffering before her all over again.

Edith heard the implication in her words and turned to look at her.

Maria said, "Because you're not his biological daughter at all! Mike finally married that bitch, and not long after the wedding, he discovered she was already pregnant with another man's child! How could he not hate you both?!"

Strangely, hearing this answer, Edith didn't feel surprised at all.

From the time she'd been abandoned in the countryside as a child, she'd comforted herself with this thought every single day.

If only Mike wasn't her biological father—then being treated this way wouldn't hurt.

Good. He really wasn't.

After hearing all this from Maria, she only felt it was unfair to Dione.

Edith suppressed the emotions in her heart and looked at the person before her.

"If Mrs. Langley is finished, then I..."

Before she could finish, she saw Maria pull out a knife from somewhere.

Edith's heart seized.

"Edith, now that you know the whole truth, go join that bitch!"

Maria swung the knife, stabbing straight toward her lower abdomen.

The distance between them was too close. Edith had no time to react—she only managed to press the button on the locator in her hand.