She sank down without much struggle. The scene was so terrible that the women present around were deeply scared. None of
them dared to utter a single word. Many of them thought that Chelsea deserved it, because she has cheated on Maxwell. But
what perplexed them most was the reason why he had called out everyone and forced them to watch the horrific scene. Some of
them even looked at Ivy questioningly. Covering the mouth with her handkerchief, Ivy too looked quite disturbed. This was
because even though he had called out all his women in the mansion, she was spared.
"Maxwell, the crime Chelsea committed was unforgivable, so she deserved more than this. But what about the servants in her
house? Do you want to expel them all?" she asked calmly, pinching her own palm.
Maxwell stood up, passed by his wife, and left without looking back. He didn't say anything, but the anger on his face was
evident. Not knowing what to do, all others looked towards Ivy.
Maxwell had always respected his wife and had never embarrassed her in front of others. It seemed that at that time, he was
very angry with her as well. Seeing the incidents unfolding before their eyes, the others became more cautious. Ivy felt
suffocated as she didn't know what to do. Finally, she broke her silence and ordered, "Sell out all the servants and maids working
in Chelsea's house. Seal up her house and yard. Get her dead body out of the water and throw it to the mass grave."
"Yes, My Lady."
Ivy felt extremely uneasy. At this sensitive moment, she didn't want more misdeeds happening in their clan. Now, Francis was
greatly favored by the emperor as he saved the latter's life. The emperor seemed inclined to bring Francis into politics. However,
Felix was deeply rooted in the imperial court and had the support of many courtiers. But, Maxwell belonged to the emperor's
faction. The recent incidents unveiling in their mansion made her feel that everything was a bit too coincident. It was not long ago
that another of Maxwell's concubines had fallen into the water and drowned due to her carelessness. What happened today to
Chelsea was due to her treachery. But it was ironic that the cause of death was similar in the case of both the deaths. With all
these thoughts in mind, Ivy had an intense feeling of negativity. But she tried to comfort herself by believing that she was thinking
too much unnecessarily.
After returning to her own room, she began to cough again. However, this time, she coughed up blood. Seeing the blood on her
handkerchief, the maid got very scared. Everybody knew that hemoptysis was serious and was an obvious sign of dying. She
wondered why Ivy had such a symptom at this young age.
The patient was scared too. She never thought that her sickness would be this severe. She ordered the maid, "Call the physician
in the mansion... No, not now. Let's wait until daybreak. You can say that I'm not feeling well and want the physician to examine
me."
"Yes, My Lady."
"Make sure that no one comes to know about me vomiting blood," Ivy added coldly. She guessed that she must have too much
concern recently. Thus, she tried to comfort herself that she would be fine.
At the same time, after reaching back in his study, Maxwell took out a list from a drawer and crossed out the name of Chelsea.
The list included all the suspects from his mansion, who might have poisoned him. He had been getting rid of these people one
by one, and had successfully eliminated all the servants and guards from the list. Now, all the remaining servants and guards in
his mansion were his men, but leftovers were the suspects among his women, and they were his next target.
"Son, I will be able to live with you and your mother soon. It won't be so long," Maxwell mumbled to himself. Then he put the list
away, as cool as ever, and went to bed in his study. Tomorrow, Matthew and Harper would be back, which would make the
imperial capital a place devoid of peace once again.
As long as Matthew was there, the emperor was not going to pay much attention to the happenings in Maxwell's mansion. Now,
what Maxwell needed the most was to cut off his wife's connection with the outside world.
Ivy was also questionable, as she had the most similar physical condition with Maxwell. As the thought that his wife might be the
one who had poisoned and plotted against him came into his mind, he couldn't help but feel depressed. But when the thought of
his son and his true lover came into his mind, he suddenly cheered up.
At the same time, there were also some other people who had a sleepless night. Felix couldn't sleep as he was thinking about
Francis, who had saved their father, risking his own life. The emperor had always favored Francis. Moreover, Francis' health had
greatly improved, and he was able to walk without a wheelchair. Thus, he became a big threat to Felix.
Matthew's return was supposed to be a good thing for him. However, Felix felt quite worried at the thought of the tricks he had
played against Matthew. After all, he knew the sheer capability of his uncle. If his uncle found out what he had done, he was
never going to help him again, and this worried him.
After the collapse of Hoffman, Felix had had the ardent belief that none of his father's other progeny would be able to compete
against him, and the Bright Dynasty would be the apple in his hand. But now, to his surprise, Francis became his tough
contender. The problem was that the emperor had a special love for Francis right from his childhood, thanks to the latter's poor
health, and now he saved the emperor from danger. The emperor seemed like he wanted to give all the best things to him.
Earlier, he hadn't considered Francis as his heir because of his poor health; now he seemed willing to give the whole country to
him after his health had greatly improved.
The more Felix thought about this, the more frightened he became. He even regretted some of his previous actions. His only
hope was Matthew not finding out about his role in the incident in the River City. Otherwise, his uncle would never let him go.
After all, everyone knew that his uncle dotted on his wife so much.