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Novel Catalog
Chapter 57
Once the woman had left, Matthew turned to Elizabeth and asked, “Why did you ask her to tag along?”
Elizabeth let out an exaggerated sigh, looking at him with a teasing smile. “Sigh, you’re not getting any younger. How could you possibly expect to manage on your own? She’s your fiancée, after all. You should start getting used to having her by your side.”
She glanced at him with a playful edge in her voice. “You were the one who wanted to get engaged to her in the first place. What’s the matter? Regretting your decision?”
At first, Elizabeth had pushed hard for the engagement between Matthew and Veronica, but he had been unusually stubborn, refusing to go along with it. What confused Elizabeth even more was his current ambiguous attitude toward Tiffany.
“No,” he replied coldly, his face giving nothing away.
“That’s a relief,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “Now, about Castron—there’s a matter of importance there. You should pack up and head out soon.”
Matthew didn’t respond. He turned and left the ward, his eyes distant as he reached for his phone and called Thomas.
The phone rang for a moment before Thomas answered. “Young Master Matthew, what’s the matter?”
“I need you to ensure Veronica’s safety while I’m in Castron,” Matthew instructed, his tone firm.
On the other end, Thomas hesitated briefly. “Sir, don’t you think you’re paying too much attention to Miss Murphy?”
As Matthew’s personal assistant, Thomas was accustomed to reminding him of his priorities. “You’ve always said you’d focus on your career, and you didn’t want anyone becoming a weakness that could threaten your performance.”
Matthew slammed his fist onto the desk in frustration.
Meanwhile, Tiffany, who had been listening, was overwhelmed by a complex mix of emotions—chiefly fear. The idea that the truth about her past might be exposed sent a cold shiver through her. If Matthew found out, it could ruin everything she had worked to build over the past twenty years.
Her rage simmered beneath the surface, and she spoke through gritted teeth. “I told you both—Veronica is a threat. As long as she lives, she’ll bring down the Larson family. You both harmed her adoptive parents, and now you want to imprison her for life in a mental hospital? Ridiculous.”
The situation with Veronica had been complicated from the start. Tiffany had long suggested eliminating her once and for all. But while Floch and Rachel resented Veronica, they couldn’t bring themselves to go through with it. Every time they considered taking action, Veronica’s face—so similar to Tiffany’s—would haunt them, softening their resolve.
Rachel sank into the couch, her posture slumped as though a heavy weight had fallen on her shoulders. The once-proud matriarch of the family now seemed much older, a shadow of the woman she had been.
Floch lit a cigarette, the smoke curling around his fingers as he spoke. “Matthew’s already assigned people to search for Veronica. If he finds her, not only will I be in trouble, but the entire Larson family will be. We can’t forget that Old Mrs. Kings has already acknowledged her as her goddaughter.”
Tiffany bristled with anger. “You two are too soft-hearted. You’re only setting us up for failure.”
She didn’t understand how, despite all the hatred they had for Veronica, her parents couldn’t bring themselves to finish what they had started. The fire that had been set to kill Veronica was only the beginning. They had hesitated, and now they were stuck. Veronica had survived, and that was a relief—but it also meant their problems were far from over.
Rachel turned to Floch, her voice quieter. “What now?”
“If you’re not going to kill Veronica, we’ll have to prepare for the consequences. As long as she lives, she’ll seek revenge on the Larson family. The proof of what happened is out there—the influencer’s tweet is the final nail in the coffin,” Tiffany snapped, impatient to leave. “I’m packing. I’m going to Castron with Matthew. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure I’m Mrs. Kings.”
As Tiffany jogged upstairs to pack, Floch and Rachel exchanged a look, their decision clear.
“I’ve said it before,” Floch muttered, “Veronica can’t stay alive. Too much is at stake.”
Though there was a small part of him that hesitated—after all, Veronica was his daughter—he knew that the risks outweighed the emotional conflict. If Rachel hadn’t been so adamant about sparing Veronica, he would have ordered her death already.
Rachel stared out the window, her thoughts distant. “We’ll do it your way this time,” she said, her voice hollow. “We’ll get rid of her before she gets us.”
Tiffany’s words made too much sense. The Larson family’s marriage alliance with the Kings family was too important. If Veronica were to escape, reveal everything to Elizabeth, or go public on social media, it could destroy them all. The danger was real, and they couldn’t afford to let Veronica live.
The decision was made. They would act before it was too late.
