Chapter 19

( WHO POISONED HOPE?)

“ Help me, please!” Penelope screamed as Hope's weight forced her on the office chair.

Noah, noticing the heat of the current situation dashed at her and helped her up. Immediately, an ambulance drove in and Hope was rushed to the hospital.

Standing in front of the office with his first finger in his mouth, his heart raced as he watched the ambulance take his stepsister away.

Collete’s arm hung over him, but he dropped her hands, which made her flinched at his usual cold display.

“ Are you so bothered about her? You should be happy she slumped. Who knows if she was running away from her fears?” Collette smirked, raising her arms again but this time, Noah pushed her away from himself.

“ Can you let me be? I'm not in for this shit you're talking about. Hope is my stepsister and whether she's my opponent or not I must protect her like a brother,” With that he hurried to his car and followed after the ambulance to the hospital.

Collette frowned and froze on her spot, watching as Noah rode away without even considering her, not minding how she would get back home. This is so weird of him.

—-

Noah was sitting close to Hope in the hospital, holding her hands and praying she regained her consciousness.

“ Sir, the doctor needs your attention!” A nurse walked into the hospital and spoke respectfully.

He heaved a deep sigh and stood up reluctantly, sparing Hope one more glance before departing to the doctor's office.

Opening the doctor's office, she met the doctor seated on the chair. That was the family doctor.

Once he saw Noah's bothered look, he quickly calmed him. “ Noah, your stepsister is doing fine, but we are shocked to find out she was poisoned.”

Noah's eyes widened as he took his seat, his mouth partly opened in surprise. “ That's not true, doctor. She can't be.”

“of course, that's what happened to her. She survived because she was rushed here else her organs would have been destroyed by the poison and probably we'd have lost her,” The doctor shook his head and spoke.

Noah's pulse races over the doctor's words, his mind reeling over how that could be possible.

“Doctor please make sure she's save. I can't afford to lose the only sister I have,” Noah spoke, his voice tinged with worries. But deep inside of him he knew what he had for her was more than just sisterly love.

“ We'd try our best. As at now she's responding to the treatment we are giving to her, and we are sure she would get better by the time she wakes up,” The doctor picked his eyeglasses on the table and wore it on his face, as though he was gesturing his time was up.

Noah stepped out into the pale glow of the hospital corridor, shoulders slumped, eyes still haunted by the doctor’s words. Before he could take another breath, his mother—Georgiana—emerged from around the corner, her silk scarf trailing like a comet’s tail. Collete hovered behind her, arms crossed, face pale.

Georgiana caught sight of Noah’s ashen expression and rushed forward. “Noah! What—what did the doctor say?” Her voice trembled, half with relief that Hope was alive, half with the fear of whatever news he carried.

He closed his eyes for a moment, as if gathering every ounce of strength. When he spoke, his voice was raw. “He—he said Hope was poisoned.”

For a heartbeat, silence swallowed them all. Collete stiffened, jaw clenched. Georgiana’s hand flew to her mouth.

“Poisoned?” Georgiana echoed, repeating the word as if it were foreign. “That’s… that’s impossible. Nobody here—” She broke off, shaking her head. “We’d never let anything like that happen to her under our roof.”

Collete’s brow furrowed. “I—I don’t believe it,” she murmured, stepping closer. “There’s no poison in this house. No one would do something so… so cruel.”

Noah ran a hand through his hair, the motion restless. “Doctor was very clear,” he said. “He found toxins in her bloodstream—heavy metals. If the EMTs hadn’t rushed her in, her organs would have failed.” He let the words hang. “Someone gave it to her.”

Georgiana’s eyes filled with tears. She reached out to grip his arm. “My sweet boy… this can’t be real.” Her voice cracked on the last syllable. “She was perfectly fine this morning.”

Collete’s usual sharpness softened into alarm. “Noah, think: who would—?” She swallowed hard. “No one here would hurt her.”

Noah’s chest tightened. “I know who wouldn’t,” he said softly. “But that leaves all the rest of the world.” He glanced at each of them in turn. “We can’t assume it was someone outside the house, not yet. We have to look everywhere.”

Georgiana shook her head, dazed. “Please tell me this is some horrible mistake.” She glanced down the empty corridor, as though the walls themselves might have conspired.

“I wish it were,” Noah said. He drew in a slow breath. “But the proof is in the lab results. We need to figure out how the poison got into her food, her drink… whatever she ingested.”

Collete straightened, a fierce light igniting in her eyes. “Then we’ll search—everywhere. The kitchen, the pantry, the guest rooms—” She took a steadying breath. “I’ll call the house staff. Someone must have seen something.”

Georgiana nodded fiercely, wiping her eyes. “Yes. And I’ll speak with the family doctor—see if he can test anything in the house.”

Noah squared his shoulders for the first time since he’d left the doctor’s office. “I’m going to stay here with her,” he said. “I’ll talk to the nurse—find out exactly when the symptoms began, what she ate before collapsing. Every detail matters.”

His mother stepped close, hands on his shoulders. “And we’ll handle everything else. We’ll find who did this to her.”