Chapter 277 Severed Finger
"Okay."
Amelia nodded and walked toward Zachary without hesitation.
Samuel said "I'll wait for you outside" and turned to leave.
The door closed. Zachary watched as Amelia took out a dark red pill from a bottle she carried, and his face turned pale.
They say medicine and poison are two sides of the same coin.
He had witnessed Amelia's medical skills—they were truly extraordinary.
So the poison she brought out must be deadly enough to kill.
Zachary stepped back several paces and spoke in a low, rapid voice.
"Amelia, don't let him fool you. He's completely cold-blooded and heartless."
"If you kill me now, once word gets out, he'll immediately throw you under the bus."
"He grew up being discriminated against, and it's twisted his mind. He's not a normal person."
Amelia frowned slightly, as if moved by his words.
Seeing her waver, Zachary quickly continued persuading her.
"In the past, everyone thought he was an illegitimate child, and everyone bullied him."
"Think about it—someone who grew up in that kind of environment, how could he know what love is? He only cares about his own selfish desires."
"He may seem to treat you well and trust you, but that's not true. Otherwise, why wouldn't he do it himself? Why make you kill me?"
"This is a trap! Don't fall for it!"
Amelia held the dark red pill, slowly turning it over in her hand.
She seemed to be thinking.
Zachary was extremely nervous, staring at her the whole time.
Afraid that the next second she would shove the poison into his mouth.
Outside were all Samuel's people. If he tried to struggle, someone would definitely burst in and hold him down.
Then he would have no way out but death.
He never imagined Samuel would actually dare to kill him.
The only possibility was that Stanley was beyond saving, which was why Samuel dared to be so reckless.
So now his only option was to try to persuade Amelia.
After a moment, Amelia finally looked up at him.
"Samuel promised me that once Stanley dies, he'll make me the lady of the Crawford family. So I'm willing to do things for him."
She paused and asked, "What about you? What can you give me?"
Hearing this, Zachary felt delighted.
So Amelia and Samuel weren't together because of feelings—they were using each other.
If he could give Amelia these things too, it wouldn't matter whose side she was on.
On the contrary, if she stayed on Samuel's side and things went wrong, Samuel, with his unpredictable temper, could throw her out to take the blame at any time.
That's why Amelia was asking him this.
He immediately seized the opportunity and said, "Whatever Samuel can give you, I can give you too. Let me go, and I'll make sure Samuel goes to jail for attempted murder. Then the Crawford Group will be ours."
But Amelia shook her head.
"I don't really like you. You're not as good-looking as Samuel."
"I want thirty percent of the Crawford Group's shares."
Zachary frowned.
"Thirty percent—do you know what that means?"
"I know. Just answer me—will you give it or not?"
Zachary immediately smiled. "Yes, I'll give it. My life is worth more than thirty percent of the shares."
"Good." Amelia nodded and said, "But words alone aren't enough. Write me a document."
Regular hotel rooms usually had paper and pens.
Amelia dictated from the side while Zachary wrote down what she said on paper.
After finishing the document, Zachary signed his name, and at Amelia's request, used the pen to blacken his fingertip and pressed a fingerprint on it.
After Amelia inspected it, she put the note away.
"I can't let you go right away, or he'll suspect you. Tomorrow, I'll find a time to come and figure out a way to get you out."
"What about Samuel?"
"I'll tell him you're thinking it over and to give you a bit more time."
She added, "He doesn't want to kill you—killing you is too much trouble. Just now he only told me to kill you because you refused to leave no matter what."
Zachary quickly thanked her.
"Amelia, thank you for saving my life!"
"No need to thank me. Just fulfill what's written in the document once this is done."
After Amelia finished speaking, she turned and left.
The door closed, but muffled voices could still be heard from outside.
Zachary pressed his ear against the door and vaguely heard Amelia saying things like "give him a day," "too much trouble if he dies," and "his life is in our hands anyway."
Samuel seemed to say something, and Amelia responded "okay" and walked toward the door.
Zachary quickly stepped back.
The door opened, and Samuel walked past Amelia into the room.
"I'm giving you one day to think it over. If you still can't see reason by this time tomorrow, I'll kill you!"
After speaking, Samuel motioned for Amelia to close the door and turned to leave.
Amelia gave Zachary a very slight nod, then closed the door.
Zachary let out a heavy breath.
Having escaped death, he only now truly began to feel afraid.
He had almost died.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, he had won over Amelia and barely managed to save his life.
But once he calmed down again, he began to think about why Samuel dared to be so bold as to poison him directly.
You have to understand, Samuel used to not even dare raise his voice in front of him.
He was always keeping his head down.
Soon, Zachary guessed the reason.
Stanley was probably in grave danger.
And the time Amelia mentioned was probably when Stanley would die completely.
Tomorrow.
Was Stanley going to die tomorrow?
He knew about Stanley's illness. Logically, even without treatment, he should have at least one or two more years to live.
And before New Year's, Nash had just talked to him on the phone.
Everything seemed normal then.
Then Nash suddenly went silent, and he rushed back to the country, only to be detained by Samuel's people at the airport and brought here.
Zachary sat by the window, thinking carefully.
Soon he realized that the turning point must have happened after Nash cut contact with him.
Stanley was originally supposed to have surgery, but unexpectedly the doctor they found was useless. Later, most likely Samuel had Amelia perform the surgery.
And the surgery, unsurprisingly, failed.
But they deliberately suppressed the news, using medication to keep Stanley alive.
This way, as long as Stanley didn't die on the operating table, it had nothing to do with Samuel.
And his appearance had infuriated Samuel.
Plus Stanley definitely couldn't wake up anymore, so Samuel dared to make a move against him so recklessly.
The more Zachary analyzed, the more accurate he felt his analysis was.
What Amelia said also confirmed this.
Stanley wouldn't live past tomorrow.
And the reason Amelia switched sides so quickly wasn't because she was afraid of being blamed for killing him, but because she was afraid of being held responsible for Stanley's death.
After figuring this out, Zachary felt enlightened, thinking himself incredibly clever.
But soon his mood dropped again.
What good did figuring this out do?
He still needed to think about how to break the situation and take back everything he had lost.
Soon, Zachary thought of what to do.
The more complex the situation, the simpler the solution needed to be.
That was to make everything public.
Just like he told Amelia—get Samuel thrown in jail.
Although he was an illegitimate child, he definitely had Stanley's blood running through his veins.
With Samuel in prison, the Crawford Group would naturally be under his control.
Zachary narrowed his eyes, carefully thinking about what exactly he should do tomorrow and what course of action to take.
Meanwhile, Amelia and Samuel were already on their way to the villa where the Richardson family was staying.
"He's the same type as Evelyn," Amelia said. "They think they're smart, but they're actually stupid."
Samuel nodded. "Indeed, he believed you so easily."
"He didn't believe me easily—he was forced by the situation and had no choice but to believe me. But people like to rationalize their assumptions. The more he thinks about it, the more he'll believe I really switched sides. Everything will go according to our plan."
Samuel nodded again.
"Good thing you're smart. At first I just planned to let him make a big scene, then use the fact that my dad isn't dead to humiliate him thoroughly and make my dad completely give up on him. But doing it that way, Zachary's losses would be limited. Your method is more effective—it can take him down in one strike."
Amelia smiled.
Just then, Yosef's call came through.
He had originally planned to go catch Evelyn before the New Year, but because of the holiday, the Russell family wouldn't let him leave.
He had no choice but to send his trusted aide.
Although his aide was loyal, he wasn't as efficient as Yosef, so after two days of effort, he still hadn't caught Evelyn.
Now that Yosef was calling, there was probably news about Evelyn.
Sure enough, after the call connected, Yosef said, "Got her. How are you going to thank me?"
"How do you want me to thank you?"
"I know in May you acquired a set of 17th-century court jewelry. I want that."
"That antique set is worth more than your life."
"Damn! You asked me yourself, and now you're backing out?"
Samuel raised an eyebrow and said, "Come get it yourself tonight."
Yosef on the other end immediately brightened up.
He said, "She'll be delivered to Thornfield soon. What are you planning to do with her?"
"Throw her back to the Russell family and let them deal with her themselves," Samuel said.
"Aren't you afraid they'll let Evelyn off?"
Samuel smiled slightly, a hint of coldness in the corners of his eyes.
"The Russell family people all have sky-high ambitions. They know what to do."
"Alright. Got it."
So that evening, Samuel received a "little gift" sent over by someone from the Russell family.
The gift was a small iron box.
Samuel opened it to look.
Inside was a severed finger, the blood not even congealed yet.
He closed the iron box expressionlessly and told Jeremy to take it far away and throw it out.
"Yes." Jeremy responded, instinctively saying, "Good thing Ms. Richardson isn't staying here tonight. If she saw this, she'd definitely be scared."
Samuel looked at Jeremy with amusement.