THE POISONED MILK

Part Two: Secrets Behind the Perfect Family

For several long seconds, the nursery remained completely silent.

No one moved.

No one dared to speak.

The only sound came from the soft crackling of the marble floor as the strange liquid continued eating its way into the expensive stone. A faint gray smoke drifted upward, carrying a bitter chemical smell that made Victoria's eyes water.

Oliver whimpered quietly in his mother's arms.

Victoria instinctively rocked him back and forth.

Her entire body was trembling.

She looked first at the corroded floor.

Then at Emily.

Finally...

She looked at her younger sister.

Charlotte stood frozen in the doorway.

Her face had turned ghostly white.

Her breathing was uneven, and tears rolled silently down her cheeks.

"Say something," Victoria whispered.

Charlotte slowly shook her head.

"I... I didn't poison him."

Emily immediately stood up despite the pain in her cheek.

"Then why are you afraid?"

Charlotte turned sharply toward her.

"I'm not afraid."

"You are."

"I've done nothing."

Emily pointed toward the floor.

"Then explain that."

Charlotte looked away.

Victoria noticed everything.

Charlotte wasn't looking at the bubbling milk.

She was avoiding it.

Almost as if she couldn't bear to see the proof.

A cold chill crept down Victoria's spine.

"Charlotte..."

she said quietly,

"...look at me."

Her sister slowly raised her eyes.

"When did you prepare Oliver's bottle?"

Charlotte swallowed.

"Around six-thirty."

"Did anyone enter the kitchen?"

"No."

"Did anyone touch the bottle after you?"

"I don't think so."

"You don't think so?"

Charlotte hesitated.

"There were many servants preparing dinner."

Emily immediately interrupted.

"No."

Everyone turned toward her.

"I was in the kitchen."

"There were only three of us."

"The chef."

"Myself."

"And Miss Charlotte."

Victoria's heartbeat quickened.

"Are you certain?"

Emily nodded firmly.

"I remember because Miss Charlotte told everyone she wanted to prepare the baby's milk herself."

Charlotte suddenly raised her voice.

"Because he's my nephew!"

Emily stared directly at her.

"Then why didn't you stay with the bottle?"

Charlotte froze.

Emily continued.

"You walked out."

"For almost five minutes."

Charlotte's eyes widened.

"How do you know that?"

"Because I was washing dishes."

"I saw you leave."

"You came back carrying fresh flowers."

Victoria frowned.

"Flowers?"

Charlotte looked down.

"I wanted to decorate the nursery."

Emily slowly shook her head.

"No."

"You didn't have flowers when you left."

"You came back with them."

"So where were you?"

Charlotte's breathing became heavier.

"I..."

Before she could answer—

A deep voice echoed from the hallway.

"Victoria?"

Richard.

Oliver's father.

The nursery door opened wider.

Richard Ashford entered wearing a tailored black tuxedo.

At forty-two, he possessed the calm confidence of a man accustomed to commanding boardrooms and billion-dollar negotiations.

But the moment he saw the destroyed nursery...

His expression changed.

"What happened?"

Victoria looked at him.

Then at Oliver.

Finally...

She whispered.

"Someone tried to kill our son."

Richard's face lost all color.

"What?"

Victoria pointed toward the floor.

"The milk."

Richard approached carefully.

His eyes widened as he saw the marble slowly dissolving beneath the strange liquid.

"What in God's name..."

Emily quietly explained everything.

From discovering the unusual smell...

To testing the milk...

To throwing the bottle before Oliver could drink it.

Richard listened without interrupting.

When Emily finished...

He turned toward Charlotte.

"You prepared the bottle?"

Charlotte nodded weakly.

"Yes."

"And?"

"I don't know how this happened."

Richard studied her carefully.

Unlike Victoria...

He wasn't emotional.

He was analytical.

His eyes moved across the room.

Nothing escaped him.

The broken bottle.

The silver spoon.

The burn marks.

Emily's swollen cheek.

Charlotte's shaking hands.

Something wasn't right.

Not just with the milk.

With the entire situation.

He pulled out his phone.

"Call the police."

Charlotte suddenly stepped forward.

"No!"

Everyone stared at her.

Richard lowered the phone.

"No?"

Charlotte realized what she had just said.

"I mean..."

"It could be a misunderstanding."

Emily laughed bitterly.

"Misunderstanding?"

"Someone almost murdered a baby."

Richard slowly placed the phone back into his pocket.

He looked directly at Charlotte.

"Why don't you want the police involved?"

Charlotte's eyes filled with panic.

"I..."

"I don't..."

Richard's voice remained calm.

"Charlotte."

"I've known you for twelve years."

"You never panic."

"So why are you panicking now?"

Charlotte couldn't answer.

Instead...

She burst into tears.

Victoria immediately stepped toward her.

"Charlotte..."

"What are you hiding?"

Her sister covered her face.

"I'm sorry."

Victoria froze.

"For what?"

"I'm..."

Charlotte sobbed uncontrollably.

"I'm so sorry."

Victoria grabbed her shoulders.

"Sorry for what?"

Charlotte slowly looked up.

Her mascara had run down both cheeks.

"You have to believe me."

"I never wanted Oliver to die."

The room fell into absolute silence.

Victoria's hands slowly slipped away.

"What..."

she whispered.

"...did you just say?"

Charlotte realized her mistake.

Her eyes widened.

"No..."

"I didn't mean..."

But it was too late.

She had already admitted one thing.

She knew the milk was poisoned.

Richard's expression hardened instantly.

"How did you know Oliver was supposed to die?"

Charlotte stepped backward.

"I..."

Richard took one step forward.

"Answer me."

"I can't."

"You can."

"I can't!"

Charlotte suddenly screamed.

Her entire body collapsed under the weight of whatever secret she had been carrying.

Victoria had never seen her like this.

Not once.

Not even after their parents died.

Richard spoke quietly.

"If you don't tell us..."

"The police will."

Charlotte closed her eyes.

"I wasn't supposed to be here tonight."

Victoria frowned.

"What does that mean?"

Charlotte slowly sat down on the nursery floor.

She looked completely defeated.

"There was a phone call."

"When?"

"This afternoon."

"From who?"

"I don't know."

"They used a private number."

Richard listened silently.

Charlotte continued.

"The caller said..."

"'If you love your sister...'"

"'You'll prepare the baby's bottle exactly as instructed.'"

Victoria's blood ran cold.

"What?"

Charlotte nodded through tears.

"They knew things."

"They knew where Lily goes to school."

Victoria frowned.

"Lily?"

"My daughter."

Charlotte began crying even harder.

"They said if I refused..."

"...they would kill her."

Richard's eyes narrowed.

"So someone blackmailed you."

Charlotte nodded.

"They told me to leave the kitchen for exactly five minutes."

"I wasn't allowed to look back."

"I wasn't allowed to tell anyone."

Emily stared at her.

"So someone else poisoned the bottle."

Charlotte nodded.

"I thought..."

"I thought they were lying."

"I never imagined..."

Victoria slowly sank into a nearby chair.

Nothing made sense anymore.

If Charlotte was telling the truth...

Then someone else had entered the kitchen.

Someone who knew the mansion.

Someone who knew Oliver's schedule.

Someone who knew the family.

Someone who knew Charlotte's daughter.

Richard's voice became dangerously calm.

"Did they say anything else?"

Charlotte hesitated.

Then nodded.

"Only one sentence."

"What was it?"

She looked directly at Richard.

"They said..."

"'The Ashford fortune should never belong to Oliver.'"

The words echoed through the nursery like thunder.

Richard's face changed.

Not fear.

Recognition.

Victoria noticed immediately.

"You know something."

Richard remained silent.

"Richard..."

She stood.

"You know exactly what this is about."

He looked away.

"Richard."

His jaw tightened.

"There are things..."

"I never wanted either of you to know."

Victoria's heart pounded.

"What things?"

Richard slowly walked toward the window.

Outside, guests continued laughing in the gardens, completely unaware that someone inside the mansion had just attempted to murder the heir to the Ashford fortune.

Finally...

Richard spoke.

"My father..."

"...had another son."

Victoria stared at him.

"What?"

"He kept it secret for thirty years."

"No..."

Richard nodded.

"My half-brother disappeared after my father's death."

"No one has seen him since."

Victoria struggled to breathe.