364.Chapter 364


    A sharp dagger sliced through the air, narrowly grazing the neck of the man in ck


    The man reacted instantly. Realizing there was someone else in the room besides the figure lying on the bed, he dodged to the side wardly and counterattacked.


    The two shed fiercely in Benedict''s room


    Despite the intensity of their fight, both kept their movements restrained, careful not to alert anyone outside.


    After many moves, Matthew realized the man in ck was more skilled than he was, using techniques he had never encountered before.


    This wasn''t Eliza''s shadow quard


    Frowning. Matthew dismissed the possibility of Eliza''s involvement. Pressing his de against the man''s defenses, he demanded. "Who are you? Why did you poison Benedict?"


    The man in ck didn''t respond. Instead, he just kicked Matthew hard and ran toward the inner room


    Matthew immediately chased after him.


    To his shock, the man headed straight for the bed, clearly intending to use Benedict as a hostage.


    Matthew''s heart sank as he hurled his dagger, the de cutting through the air. Just then, the man in ck, who was about to seize Benedict, caught sight of a flowerpot hidden behind the window. His focus shifted instinctively.


    This sudden change in direction caused Matthew''s dagger to graze the man''s hand, leaving a shallow but noticeable wound.


    "Stop'' Put it down" Matthew said.


    Matthew rushed to the bedside and saw the man change his target. Matthew instantly understood the true purpose of his


    Intrusion.


    With a sharp shout, Matthew lunged at the man with bare fists.


    The man in ck grabbed two flowerpots with each hand swiftly. Just as he was


    about to leave, he suddenly hesitated, sensing something was off.


    "Wait, aren''t there only supposed to be two pots? Why is the


    there a third one that looks exactly the same?"


    The masked man froze for a split second, but a sense of danger kicked in. He quickly dodged Matthew''s punch from behind.


    What now? These pots were too bit, and there was no way he could carry all three.


    While fending off Matthew''s attacks, he frowned in thought for a brief moment before making a swift decision. He ditched the pots without hesitation, yanked the flowers out by their roots, and hurled one of the pots straight at Matthew


    The sound of the pots breaking finally alerted the people outside.


    Matthew''s eyes widened Damn it, he''s trying to set me up!


    By the time Matthew rushed after him, the masked man had already pulled out all three flowers and escaped through the


    window


    Left alone in the room, Matthew could hear footsteps rapidly approaching. Even now, he was still trying to cover for Sophie. He grabbed some cloth and collected the broken pieces and spilled dirt. Just as the shadow guards burst into the room, he leapt out the window and made his escape


    Matthew thought he had done enough to keep Gabriel from suspecting Sophie.


    What he didn''t realize was that Gabriel had already known Sophie had gifted two flower pots to Benedict


    The next morning, when Gabriel heard about themotion and saw the scattered soil beneath the window in Benedicts room his face turned icy cold


    "What did you find about Sophie''s flower pots and seeds? Anything suspicious? Gabriel asked.


    "The flower pots and soil Lady Sophie sent to Lord Benedict were sourced directly from the estate. The flowers appeared ordinary, and we didn''t uncover anything unusi


    Gabriel let out a coldugh


    Sessfully unlocked!


    if there was truly nothing wrong, then why had the flo thorough investigation? bowing his head.


    flowers Sophie sent disappeared the very day after he ordered a


    After all the chaosst night, nothing else in Benedict''s room was missing-only the flowers.


    364 Chapte


    If there was no issue, then why was Sophie acting so nervous? What was she hiding?


    And Gabriel suspected Matthew hadn''t been entirely truthful with him yesterday either.


    Narrowing his eyes, Gabriel decided not to confront Sophie immediately. Instead, he instructed the butler, "Summon Chad. Tell him Benedict''s condition has worsened, and I need him to take another look."


    Chad was brought in without dy


    Under Gabriel''s probing questions, the truth finally came to light from Chad.


    "Those three pots hold the deadliest poisonous flowers I''ve ever seen. After examining Benedict, I spent two days researching and discovered that their toxicity increases at every growth stage, from seedling to sprout, stem to bud, and finally bloom Now at the budding phase, il Benedict had continued inhaling their toxins until full flowering, their blossoms would have marked his final hours"


    Gabriel''s fists clenched tightly, his face dark with fury.


    Chad flipping through his recently written notes, added, "Fortunately, we''ve caught this early enough. If you can procure even one of the three medicinal ingredients I mentioned, I can temporarily dy the progression. I can''t promise a full year, but at least three months. However, only the true antidote can save Benedict''s life."


    Gabriel forced himself to suppress the fury boiling inside, keeping his expression neutral as he said to Chad, "Thank you, Dr. Garraway, for your help. I''ll have someone send over a token of appreciationter for your dedication these past few days."


    “No trouble at all. You''re too kind, Lord Mowbay. If anything elsees up, feel free to reach out to me again," Chad replied, though his thoughts lingered on the poisonous flowers. He wanted to ask if he could take one back for further study. But when he nced up, Gabriel''s re was downright terrifying. Forget it. Maybe another time, Chad thought.


    Sensing the tension, Chad wisely chose to keep quiet and made a quick exit.


    Sure enough, as soon as Chad was gone, Gabriel''s face turned stormy, and he headed straight for Sophie''s courtyard.


    Sophie, now more at ease after hearing the flowers had been dealt with, had even asked Annie to prepare soup. She nned to bring it to Benedict and make a good impression in front of Gabriel.


    But before she could carry out her n, Gabriel arrived.


    The sound of hurried footsteps made Sophie look up just as Gabriel burst through her doors. Her face lit up with a cheerful smile,pletely unaware of the brewing storm. "Father, what brings you here? I just made some soup and was about toe find you


    Before Sophie could finish speaking, Gabriel, who had already closed the


    distance between them, suddenly raised his hand and delivered a harsh p across her face.


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