Alessia opened the box, and a rich herbal fragrance filled the air. Inside were seven thumb-sized black pills neatly arranged.
Alessia explained, "Grandma, there are seven pills in total, one per day. As long as you persist in taking one pill a day for seven days, your leg condition will improve."
"Okay. Sia, you're so considerate." Grandma Carter smiled like a blooming daisy and asked a servant to bring water.
"Grandma, do you want to take it now?" Alessia asked.
"Of course, if my granddaughter made the medicine, I must take it immediately." Grandma Carter said proudly and matter-of-factly.
The warmth in Alessia's eyes deepened as she said, "This medicine tastes a bit bitter."
"Bitter, huh." Grandma Carter wrinkled her brow like a child who disliked bitter taste, then seemed to make up her mind and said, "Even if it's bitter, I'll still take the medicine my granddaughter made. Matilda, bring some fruit."
The maid, Matilda, hesitated.
Grandma Carter glared at her, and Matilda, reluctantly went to fetch some sliced fruit. She soon returned with a glass of water.
Before handing the water to Grandma Carter, Matilda, couldn't help but glance at Alessia and said, "Madam, should we let Dr. Dante take a look at the medicine before you take it?"
Dr. Dante was the family doctor responsible for Grandma Carter's health.
Grandma Carter frowned unhappily, "What's the use of letting him see it? If my leg could be cured, he would have cured it already. Don't worry about it."
Matilda, fell silent. She wasn't worried about the medicine being ineffective, but rather about potential side effects.
Although the former lady of the house had become more beautiful, she was still from the countryside.
You had to be cautious about what you ingested.
However, she was just a servant.
No one present was foolish.
Alessia understood what Matilda, meant. She also knew that Grandma Carter must have understood Matilda,'s meaning too, deliberately saying so to defend her.
The way Grandma Carter completely trusted her made her emotions fluctuate.
Alessia took the pill initiative and handed it to Grandma Carter.
Grandma Carter smiled as she swallowed the pill, immediately drank some water, and then stuffed a grape into her mouth.
With her eyes narrowed, chewing on the grape, she looked like she was really experiencing bitterness.
"Good, don't treat me like Christopher. I can handle a little bitterness." Grandma Carter smiled and shooed Alessia away. "You can go see Christopher now. We'll have dinner together later."
Alessia didn't refuse and left the main house to go to Christopher's room.
"Mom, I really want to stay with you for a while," Christopher blinked his obsidian eyes, showing a hint of grievance. This pitiful expression was so subtle that if you weren't careful, you wouldn't notice it.
Alessia gently stroked his small head affectionately. "Mommy will find a way."
"Okay." Christopher nodded and continued studying.
Alessia glanced at Christopher's desk, feeling sorry for the mountains of study materials. Although he had just started kindergarten, his workload was heavier than that of middle school students.
Unlike her approach with Christian and Elle, she let them roam free.
If possible, she wanted to temporarily free Christopher from his studies.
"Chris, let's play with LEGO for a while."
"Really?" Christopher's eyes lit up with longing but also hesitance.
Alessia guessed that Christopher was probably afraid of Dominic. Although she had signed an agreement not to interfere in Christopher's affairs, she still had control over him for a little while longer.
"Of course, little darling. Will you play with me?"
"Yeah." Christopher nodded vigorously.
In the toy room, the two sat on the floor, seriously playing with LEGO.
None of them noticed the tall figure that suddenly appeared at the door, lingering for a long time before leaving.
"Young master seems to really like Miss La Rosa," David said as he walked away.
Dominic didn't respond and left the Carter residence.
Once they were in the car, David turned to Dominic and asked, "Mr. Carter, where are we going now?"
"Back to the office for overtime," Dominic replied coldly, staring out the window.
David's face immediately fell.
The work for today was already completed, and now their CEO was heading back to the office. What was going on? Was he trying to avoid his ex-wife?
David felt like he had discovered the truth, yet also like he hadn't discovered anything at all.
...
Late at night.
Alessia was sleeping in bed when her phone suddenly rang urgently.
She reached for her phone and answered, her eyes already alert.
She was always a light sleeper.
As soon as the call connected, a frantic female voice came through, causing Alessia to instinctively move the phone away from her ear.
"Alessia, what did you give my mom? You wicked woman, if anything happens to my mom, I'll make you pay with your life."
Alessia recognized the voice as Clara's. From what she gathered, it seemed like something had happened to Grandma.
She furrowed her brow, ignoring Clara's rage, and calmly asked, "What happened exactly?"
"How dare you ask what happened?! My mom is in critical condition because she took the pills you gave her. If anything happens to my mom, who has treated you so well, how could you bear it? Your heart is truly dark!" Clara continued to berate her angrily.
Alessia only caught the words 'critical condition.' The pills she gave Grandma were meant to treat her leg condition and definitely didn't contain any poison.
Could there have been a mistake?
Thinking this, Alessia's frown deepened as she said, "I'm coming over right now."
After saying this, the call ended abruptly.
Alessia quickly got dressed and headed out.
It only took her half an hour to reach the hospital, and her car was already parked at the entrance.
As Alessia approached, she saw Clara, Bianca, and Dominic standing outside the ward.
"You wicked woman, our family is cursed to be associated with you," Clara rushed towards Alessia as soon as she saw her, raising her hand to slap her.
Seeing the incoming slap, Alessia leaned to the side and effortlessly caught Clara's wrist.
Clara struggled for a moment but couldn't free her hand. She grew even more furious. "Alessia, you wicked woman, how dare you dodge?"
Alessia didn't even bother to acknowledge Clara.
With a firm grip, she shook off Clara and went straight to Bianca. "How is Grandma now?"
Bianca looked anxious. "I'm not sure. Aunt brought her here. She said Grandma's leg suddenly started hurting before bed, and it got worse and swelled up. She called Dr. Dante, and he advised bringing her to the hospital for examination. She's currently undergoing tests inside."
Upon hearing this, Alessia breathed a sigh of relief, her anxious expression fading. She turned to Dominic and asked, "Can I go in to see Grandma?"
"No." Before Dominic could even speak, Clara interrupted.
Standing in front of the ward door, Clara said, "What poison did you give my mom? You're still going to destroy evidence by going in now?"
"Aunt, please don't say that. Sia has always had a good relationship with Grandma. How could she possibly poison her?" Bianca couldn't bear to see it and spoke up for Alessia.
Clara insisted, "Even if it wasn't intentional poisoning, she's still responsible. I warned her last time not to give my mom those prescriptions from those rural quack doctors. Since she didn't listen, she must bear the consequences."
Clara finished speaking and then turned to Dominic. "Dom, you are now in charge of the Carter family's affairs. What do you think we should do?"
Dominic's gaze flickered past Alessia and towards the ward as he said, "The pills have been taken for testing, and Grandma is undergoing examination. We shouldn't disturb."
The implication was clear: Wait!
***