Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 239: Poison

The bodyguard who gave Andrew the information about the test stepped backwards after whispering in his ear.

Many tried to gauge the outcome from Andrew’s expression, eager to get the juicy information but the man’s gaze was unreadable as it usually was. He was always like a blank white canvas with dark strokes all around it, exuding a thick sense of danger that kept people away yet they could never see through his mind unless he allowed it.

With everyone watching eagerly, Andrew muttered incoherent words to the bodyguard that even Anne who was close by didn’t hear.

The bodyguard nodded firmly and hurried out of the hall just as he’d come leaving everyone curious what the results of the test was.

Did Clara really put something in the CEO’s wine or was it the other woman trying to frame her and play hero?

The question sparked murmurs among the guests.

Clara who was the main subject of the situation couldn’t take it anymore, she felt like she had been sitting on pins and needles for the whole time, waiting to find out if that quack had told her the truth when he had assured her that the liquid would blend into any substance it came in contact with, it had no smell or taste and it was almost non existent except for the unbeatable effect it had on whoever consumed it.

Despite knowing this, Clara had never tested the liquid out to be sure, so she was uncertain. Would she be discovered here tonight?

What would Andrew think of her after this?

The more she thought about it, the more her heart beat strangely in fear which had caused her to be uneasy for a long time.

Seeing the bodyguard say something to Andrew and leave afterwards, Clara felt somewhat assured.

Andrew must have been told that nothing was discovered in his drink right?

She got up from her seat and approached Andrew with a calmness to her steps.

"I was accused wrongly, so I’m very sure the guard told you the test came out clean right?" Clara spoke confidently and she made sure to amp up the sound of her voice a little bit so others could hear. Her image should be cleared here tonight, so she wanted Andrew to say it himself.

When he looked at her, all of Clara’s confidence seemed to slowly wipe away. Those eyes looked like those of the very demon that held the torture weapon in hell. Dark and frightening.

"Do you really want everyone to know what was found in that wine?" His quiet words left Clara momentarily stunned, taken aback by the unexpected statement.

What did he mean by that?

Was something really found in the wine?

Impossible...that was impossible!

Unless that piece of shit from the dumps had lied to her. But it couldn’t be, anything she got from that source was usually never fake.

With Clara speaking to Andrew, guests listened in again but they couldn’t hear anything of what he said because they weren’t close enough and they didn’t dare to move closer, but they could see that Clara’s expression had gone pale which meant what he said must have shaken her. However, before they could begin speculating, the banquet hall was opened from the outside and in came a set of uniformed men.

The man leading them was wearing a formal dark police uniform, with gold insignia and badges showing his high rank in the force.

"That’s John Devinson, the chief of police. Why would the chief of police come here himself?"

"Why are policemen here? What’s going on."

Confused murmurs floated around the hall as the chief of police walked straight to Andrew and greeted him respectfully, he exchanged a few words with Andrew before he turned towards Clara, his expression strict and professional.

"Miss Clara Hastings, we’re going to need you to come with us for further investigation. We have evidence that you attempted to poison CEO Sterling here at this banquet tonight." The chief of police said composedly and immediately his words fell, gasps of shock reverberated in the air.

"Poison?!"

"What they found in the wine was poison?"

"So she wasn’t lying, Clara indeed put something into the CEO’s wine."

Clara looked stunned as she heard what the man just said.

"That’s not possible, I didn’t do anything! Why do I have to come with you?" Clara quickly denied, looking for anything to cling onto to get herself out of this. She whirled desperately, looking Andrew in the eye.

"Andrew, we’ve been friends for a long time, you should trust me, I would never..."

"Friends?" His dark voice interrupted her words, brows pulled together in a look one could only interpret as disgust. "It seems you indulge in delusions. Miss Hastings, I’ve never once seen you as anything but another employee in my company, don’t expect me to give you my trust."

Clara’s whole body went stiff, eyes wide open as she stared up at Andrew in disbelief. It felt like she had just heard something that made her blood freeze up in her body. A mixture of hurt and something else that looked like one struggling to accept reality surfaced in her eyes.

"I won’t let them put cuffs on you if you choose to come with us calmly, Miss Hastings." Despite the chief of police saying this to her, Clara didn’t pay the man any attention, she looked lost in her own world as if her brain was working in full speed, she almost looked like someone who wasn’t in the present moment at all.

The chief of police frowned and made a motion to one of his men, left with no choice they went forward to drag Clara away with them. She suddenly seemed to wake up from her stupor, struggling against the policeman’s grip.

"Don’t touch me! I said get your hands off me, do you even know who I am?"

What made Clara’s mind suddenly shut down in this moment hadn’t been because Andrew had denied being friends with her. Yes she was acquainted with the Sterlings for a long time, and she had always thought of Andrew as a friend in her mind but there were many instances he had made it obvious to her that he didn’t see her the same way. Clara had always consoled herself with the thoughts that he would be hers someday.

But what made her lose her calm was the fact that Andrew was protecting Anne!

As Clara was dragged away, her gaze drifted towards Anne who was sitting and their eyes met. The fury that showed in Clara’s eyes in this moment was murderous.

She used to be the queen before this woman showed up but all of a sudden she had been reduced to this. Not once had she ever seen herself going through this thorough humiliation. Dragged away so shamefully in front of hundreds of people who used to respect her. Such a humiliation could never be wiped off her name.

Her gaze shifted to Andrew and she saw the clear ruthlessness in his eyes, a sudden realization struck her.

This man...he had no mercy in his heart for anyone, but why...why was he humiliating her for that woman?

She had seen in Andrew’s eyes at the last moment, and Clara knew that nothing had been found in that wine just like the seller had said. However it was either her or Anne, if the wine was found clean Anne would be blamed, so in order to protect Anne from criticism, Andrew had chosen to sell her out instead.

Clara knew they found nothing in the drink because what she put in it wasn’t poison but a rare kind of aphrodisiac that would change some neurons in the person’s brain influencing what they see and how they react to a situation, the person who consumed it would in other words become a beast of lust, no thoughts, no mind, just raging, pure lust.

Clara had thought, she would make him hers by sunrise but that goal couldn’t be even farther.

She had longed for his affection, but she only got his disdain so she had chosen to use this method, she really didn’t think that this method would fail as well, and now in his eyes, she was even lower than trash.

Clara felt her heart breaking many times over and just as she was dragged out of the banquet hall, she let out a shrill cry that pierced the air.

Watching Clara struggle and fight against the policemen frantically made the pure and clean image she had in people’s eyes suddenly plummet.

"She really tried to poison the CEO, why would she do that?" An employee of SE exclaimed in shock as they watched Clara being taken away ruthlessly by the police.

Andrew had always been known to be straightforward. Cordial to people he doesn’t mind having around and ruthless to those that attracted his rage. But what was so unexpected was the fact that poison was actually detected in Andrew’s wine which was given to him by Clara.

"She’s vile and despicable, giving the CEO a poisoned drink at his own banquet, I can’t believe I used to like her."

"Miss Hastings has always been a graceful young woman, I never thought she would ever be capable of something like this at all."

"I know right? She’s so kind and sweet, but the wine was clearly tested and the police wouldn’t take her away without any evidence. If there was really poison in the wine, then it means Clara has just been pretending to be kind this whole time."

"Don’t jump into conclusions, there might have been poison in the drink but maybe she was framed by someone."

"I don’t know what to believe, this whole thing is very complicated."

It became a very confusing mystery for people, it was hard to believe that Clara had actually tried to poison the CEO at the same time it was clear due to the police saying they had evidence.

Investor Daniels who witnessed everything unfold suddenly felt panicked, his eyes darted around as if he just thought about something before quickly coming forward.

"Young lady, I misunderstood you, please accept my apologies." He humbly apologized to Anne while sneaking a glance in Andrew’s direction like someone seeking approval, when he noticed Andrew paid him no attention he quietly stepped backwards.

Anne was just recovering from a daze of disbelief when she barely heard the man’s apology. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Yes, she had witnessed Clara put two drops of some mysterious liquid into the wine, but she found it hard to believe it was actually poison.

No matter how Anne thought about it, she didn’t picture Clara poisoning Andrew with the intentions of taking his life, actually she didn’t think anyone would be able to do it. Clara might be crafty but she was smart, whatever she put in his drink, Anne was almost certain it wasn’t poison so why did Andrew get her arrested for it?

Anne’s thoughts were cut off short when a hand suddenly clasped around her wrist, she looked down at the familiar large hand trailing upwards to the man in front of her, without giving her a chance to react he pulled her up, not letting go of her hand and he took her out with him. Anne glanced around at the shocked faces trained on her with Andrew holding her hand like that leading her away in front of everyone.

The outside breeze hit her face, somewhat refreshing but chilled as well. The driver was already waiting outside as if he had been pre-notified, immediately he sighted her coming with Andrew in the distance he already opened the backdoor for her.

Andrew stopped as he led her to the car, "Go home." He suddenly said with indifference in his eyes.

"Was there really poison in that glass?" Anne asked instead wanting to know if Clara had really attempted to poison him.

And true to Anne’s guess, Andrew replied simply, "No."

Anne frowned feeling bewildered.

It wasn’t poison?