After her daughter left the Earwood family, that young man would show up at their doorstep every now and then—clearly a love-struck fool.
"Hi, Mrs. Earwood. We didn’t an to disturb you," Clark said, fearing he would leave a bad impression on her.
"We’ve told you earlier, we don’t have any news about Carol," Taylor said, almost closing the door.
Rosemary spoke softly, "Carol might be in danger. We’re here to help her."
Taylor paused mid-step, looking back at the petite and pretty girl.
She was so young; how could she possibly be of any help?
"No need."
Having said that, Taylor prepared to close the door again.
"Ma’am," Rosemary stopped the door with her hand, speaking gently, "There are people out there looking for Carol. We need to find her before they do, or she’ll be in danger."
Upon finishing her sentence, Rosemary took out her phone and showed Taylor a picture of a bottle of vitamin C.
"This thing." Taylor’s eyes widened. She imdiately recognized the little bottle. It had always been in Carol’s room. How did that girl get a picture of it? Had they been to her house and entered Carol’s room?
"The substance Carol has been taking might not be vitamin C, but a lethal poison."
Taylor’s anger subsided at the ntion of poison, replaced by disbelief. "How could that be!"
That thing had been in her daughter’s room for a long ti. She had even seen Carol taking it. Before Carol found her biological parents, she had been taking that!
That was more than a year ago.
"Was the stuff she took powdery?" Rosemary curiously asked. "Vitamin C usually cos in tablet form."
Taylor’s face was a picture of shock. That was right—how could she have overlooked that important detail? Pills in bottles like that were usually tablets or capsules. But what Carol had been taking was powdery.
If not for the girl’s reminder, she wouldn’t have given it a second thought even at that mont.
She had once seen her daughter pour powdery stuff into water.
When she asked Carol what she was taking, Carol said that it was iron supplents and whitening agents.
A few days later, she saw the bottle when she was cleaning. It said vitamin C, so she didn’t think much of it.
Looking back, Carol had been acting strange for over a year!
"Why would she even take such a thing? Do you have any evidence that it’s a lethal poison?!" Taylor couldn’t keep her composure; her voice trembled as she asked in disbelief.
"Because there are people trying to kill her, calling her a traitor."
Rosemary could only tell her what she knew, trying to gain her trust.
Upon hearing that, Taylor shook her head vigorously. "No, my daughter couldn’t possibly be a traitor. You’re talking nonsense."
"We’re not sure about the details either. So far, we only know this much. The reason we ca here is to get more clues from you. My brother Clark loves Carol. We have no reason to harm you."
Seeing the sincerity in the girl’s eyes, Taylor was finally persuaded and stepped aside.
Clark didn’t expect his sister to convince Mrs. Earwood. He looked at her gratefully.
Taylor was still thinking about what Rosemary just said, feeling sowhat distracted.
Just then, a man walked out from inside the house.
"Honey, who was at the door? You’ve been gone for quite so ti."
Taylor looked up to see her husband. Just as she was about to explain the situation to him, Mr. Earwood asked, "Why is it you again? How did you find us? And you also brought a girl?"
What did that an??
"Let’s let them in first!" Afraid of being overheard, Taylor tugged at her husband’s sleeve and whispered, "They’re here to help Carol."
Mr. Earwood was sowhat skeptical. Since Carol’s departure, they had encountered too many dubious characters.
But the sincerity in the girl’s eyes was unmistakable, and she also nodded, emphasizing, "We won’t hurt Carol."
Because Mr. Earwood’s place was on the ground floor, passersby would often walk by, and so would even peek into the yard.
"Let them in," Taylor murmured, entering the house with a sense of trepidation. Mr. Earwood, filled with mixed emotions, followed her inside.
Rosemary and Clark exchanged a glance, as if to say that they had agreed.
Clark closed the yard gate behind him and followed his sister into the house.
The living room was small but tidied up to neatness.
"Make yourselves comfortable."
At Mr. Earwood’s words, Rosemary and Clark settled down on the couch, sitting obediently like a pair of well-behaved students.
Taylor went to the kitchen to fetch so water for them. Rosemary wanted to tell her not to bother, but seeing her preoccupied expression, clearly still pondering over earlier events, she didn’t have the heart to interrupt her.
Instead, it was Mr. Earwood who glanced at Rosemary, then at Clark as he expressed his assumptions.
"Brother and sister?"
They both nodded in agreent.
"Blood?"
They nodded in unison again.
"How long have you been seeing Carol?" Logan Earwood turned his gaze to Clark, asking.
"A year," Clark answered truthfully. "A year after, she left . I spent another year looking for her."
Adding it up, he had been entangled with Carol for two years.
Suddenly, the sound of glass shattering ca from the kitchen.
Logan was the first one to react, rushing towards the kitchen. "Taylor, what happened?"
Rosemary and Clark also hurried over, only to discover that Taylor had broken a glass and was picking up the shards, having accidentally cut her finger in the process.
"Don’t move," the three of them said in unison.
Taylor was startled, finally snapping out of her daze.
"Co here, carefully. I’ll handle the shards," Logan extended his hand towards her, afraid that she might step on the glass shards.
Taylor was led out of the kitchen by him, leaving Logan to clean up the ss.
Rosemary examined her wound, asking softly, "Where’s the first aid kit? I can take care of this."
"No need, a band-aid will do."
"That won’t be enough. This cut isn’t small—if it gets infected, it could be serious."
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