The Lady Nun Vows Revenge - Chapter 496: Chapter 496

Of course, Anthony wouldn't dare.
Anthony had been seething ever since Caleb took Sophie as his concubine. In his fury, the poison he prepared for Caleb was nothing short of lethal.
For someone as robust as Caleb, even under the torment of the poison, he could hold on for about 15 minutes.
For Anthony, with his frail and sickly body, drinking that poison would mean instant death.
Anthony's face turned ashen. Though he was always pale from his illness, this time he looked utterly bloodless, as if he might collapse at any moment.
A moment later, Anthony slowly pushed the wheelchair forward. Only when he reached the center did he say, "Dale, it's inappropriate."
"Is it that you find it inappropriate, or are you just scared?" Dale's voice was cold and sharp.
Anthony shook his head, his expression calm and composed, as if he truly had nothing to fear. "It's not fear, Dale. You know my health has always been frail since childhood. After that incident with Caleb, when I barely escaped death, my condition worsened. Even a mild sedative could be fatal to me. If I were to collapse, how would we determine whether it was the poison or simply my weak constitution?"
Anthony clung to this excuse, crafting a seemingly flawless justification for himself.
If Dale were to let the matter drop, it would be ideal. But if they insisted on forcing him to test the poison, then the Marquis's estate would be the ones crossing the line.
With this thought, Anthony lowered his head slightly, a sly smile flickering across his lips.
At that moment, Eliza, who had been silently observing from her seat, suddenly spoke up. "If you can't do it, isn't there someone else who can?"
After all, it wasn't just Anthony who had mistreated Caleb. Matthew was involved too.
And Matthew, unlike Anthony, appeared to be in perfect health.
Caught off guard, Matthew snapped his head up, his chair scraping loudly against the floor as he glared at Eliza, his eyes blazing with fury.
Dale raised an eyebrow. "Your Grace, you are absolutely right. If Anthony can't try it, then Matthew should. And if Matthew isn't suitable either, then Mrs. Nevill can step in. After all, she's family, just like the rest of you. I don't see why it would make a difference. Don't you agree, Lord Mowbay?"
Eliza's words seemed to spark an idea in Dale. The Stonor family had more than one candidate, after all, especially Sophie, the root cause of all this trouble.
Whether the poison was real or fake, if it ended up killing Sophie, that would be satisfying.
Adeline's eyes lit up at the idea. "Exactly. Dale is absolutely right. If the Stonor family refuses to step forward, then we'll have someone from the Marquis's estate do it."
She sneered, her tone dripping with malice. "After all, Sophie is now Caleb's concubine, which means she's one of us now. Isn't that right, Sophie?"
This blatant threat left both Matthew and Anthony seething with rage, their eyes burning red. Sophie nearly fainted from fright.
She cursed Matthew and Anthony furiously in her heart. Those were totally two idiots. If she'd known they'd drag her into this mess, she would've poisoned them ages ago.
She had to think of a way out. Her gaze shifted to Caleb, standing behind Adeline, and she almost forgot about this fool.
If Caleb hadn't been running around stirring up trouble, none of this embarrassment would've happened. And to make matters worse, Caleb, despite marrying Sophie, still couldn't let go of Eliza. A flash of malice flickered in Sophie's eyes at the thought.
In the next moment, her big, innocent eyes fluttered, and Sophie quickly put on a pitiful, helpless look. "Caleb, I'm willing to do this for you. I know Anthony didn't mean to hurt you—he and Matthew are my brothers, after all. You know they're just worried about me.
"But since neither Madam Nevill, Lord Dale, nor you believe it, I'm willing to swallow this poison to prove it to you all."
As Sophie spoke, she stepped forward, walking to the table beside Dale, and reached out to pick up the bottle of poison.
"Sophie, put that down." Matthew and Anthony hadn't expected Sophie to actually agree, and both of them panicked instantly.
Even Caleb, who had been inwardly furious with Sophie moments ago, suddenly felt a pang of softness in his heart.
He sighed, "Sophie, it's not like I want to push you, but we need to get to the bottom of this. How about this? If you can prove that the poison isn't an instant lethal toxin on behalf of Anthony and Matthew, then, as my father said, we won't pursue this matter further."
Sophie had thought Caleb would at least try to talk her out of it, maybe show a little concern. She never expected him to stay silent, not even saying a single word to dissuade her. Instead, he just repeated the same useless nonsense his father had said.
Sophie was so furious that she nearly crushed the poison vial in her hand. Her expression froze for a moment.
Then, feigning delight, she spoke again, "That's wonderful. Thank you, Caleb. I will definitely prove it to you. But—" Mid-sentence, Sophie suddenly hesitated, her face showing a flicker of uncertainty.
"What is it? Don't tell me you're backing out now, Sophie." Caleb paused, his brows furrowing.
Sophie immediately shook her head. "No, Caleb, you've misunderstood me. I'm not going back on my word. It's just that before I drink this poison, there's something I want to ask you."
She hesitated, biting her lip, her gaze darting to Caleb again and again, as if she couldn't bring herself to say what was on her mind.
Adeline, watching her, sneered in disdain, "Enough with the vixen's tricks. If you have something to say, spit it out and stop wasting time."
Sophie immediately put on a pitiful expression. Seated at the head of the table, Eliza suddenly caught Sophie's gaze and felt a wave of unease.
Sure enough, the next moment, Sophie asked, "I just want to know, yesterday when you accompanied me back to my home and left halfway through chatting with my father, did you really go to Eliza's courtyard?"