Chapter 30: Upper Hand

Charlotte stared at the phone in Abigail’s hand. Abigail stood a good pace away from her stepmother, because even though she was sure the woman would never attempt anything as common as grabbing something from her, she was at the point where she just wasn’t going to put absolutely anything past the woman.

Abigail had forgotten, once before, to record something when Charlotte spoke to her. She was never going to make that same mistake ever again. As soon as she’d come down the stairs and heard them speaking, she had opened her phone and began recording, Video and all.

She had learnt how to live in this life that she had been thrown into. Where trust was a very imaginary and child’s plaything.

“I’ve recorded everything, with the video playing,” Abigail clarified, assuring her stepmother. “So don’t worry, there will be no mistaking the man you were just speaking to.”

Charlotte seethed, “How dare you record me without my permission!” She screamed. “That’s illegal.”

“So is poisoning someone!” Abigail hissed at her stepmother. “Don’t be stupid, don’t make this worse for yourself!”

Abigail turned away, drew a deep breath and turned to Charlotte again calmly, “This is what you’re going to do.”

“How dare you give me orders!” Charlotte screamed.

Abigail didn’t let that deter her and she continued speaking.

“You will speak to my father about this,” Abigail said. “You will explain to him that I was poisoned, that everything was set up to look like I was a failure, hoping that I would be disinherited, and the company left without an heir.”

“I will never admit . . .” Charlotte began.

“You don’t have to admit,” Abigail cut her off. “You don’t have to say it was you. You don’t even have to name someone at all. You can tell him Olivia was poisoned as well, and that should make it seem like you weren’t the guilty party.”

“And if I don’t?” Charlotte asked, folding her arms across her chest. “What happens if I just refuse to do anything you say?”

Was this woman really this stupid, Abigail wondered, or was she really just trying to push her luck and see how far it could go?

“Then I take this straight to my father,” Abigail answered. “And I take him with me to the doctor for a tox scan and test this little antidote and I’m sure your fingerprints are nicely on this and we will have no trouble tracing it back to you.”

Charlotte stared at her, horrified.

“You have to make a choice,” Abigail told Charlotte, “And I’m not letting you leave here until you do.”

“How dare you,” Charlotte began.

“Enough,” Abigail told her step mother. “Decide, in the next minute, and you go straight from here to my father. If I don’t get an apology from him in the next hour, I am going to tell him everything, and play this clip for him.”

“I can’t control if your father apologizes to you or not,” Charlotte sniffed.

“Then you better make a way, and I want to hear from his mouth the story you tell him, so you really better put on a good show,” Abigail told her stepmother. “But I’m sure that’s well within your capabilities to do.”

“And you’ll delete the video?’ Charlotte asked, arching an eyebrow. “How am I supposed to just trust you?”

“Oh my god,” Abigail laughed. “How stupid do you really think I am? No, I’m not going to delete the video. I’m going to archive and save it. I’m keeping this with me for as long as we both live and beyond that, just in case you try something from beyond the grave.”

“You b*tch!” Charlotte screamed, looking like she wanted to attack Abigail.

“Listen, we’re wasting time,” Abigail waved her hand. “I have things to do after this, I’m really very busy. So here is what you’re going to do.”

Abigail put her still recording phone in her back pocket, out of reach of her stepmother. Also, out of sight. Possibly Charlotte might think it was no longer recording and admit to some more heinous things. Probably not. But Abigail could hope.

“You’re going to leave here, through the servants corridors because it’s fastest,” Abigail clarified. “And go to my father’s office. And explain to him that I was poisoned, blame whoever you want. Not me. Not Olivia. And not my mother. But other than that, say what you have to. Tell him to apologize to me through text, I want proof of all of this. Tell him to detail the new story to me. Anything less than that,” Abigail warned. “And I drop everything I’m doing to go straight to him with this recording. And you will be grateful, that I have decided to give you this opportunity.”

Charlotte stared at Abigail for a moment, before huffing, and staring down one of the corridors that would lead her straight to Adam’s office.

“You’re nothing more than a gold-digger, just like your mother,” Charlotte muttered, as she passed by Abigail.

And Abigail felt a pang of spite. “Stop,” she told Charlotte.

“What now?” Charlotte demanded, spinning around till she was facing Abigail, hands on her hips.

“If you ever mention my mother in any way ever again,” Abigail told her, her voice low and dangerous. “I will release this recording to the press. And I’m sure you yourself can imagine what the repercussions of that would be. What it would mean for you and your future. No one would trust you again. My father won’t even have a say on if you live in this house. The company will want him to kick you out. The world will tear you apart. Think on that, as you walk along the servants corridors,” Abigail warned her stepmother. “Because if you take on wrong step, you won’t even be allowed in here, or any house that looks like this, even as a servant, ever again.”

Charlotte threw her a withering glare, and then stalked off.

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Abigail knew better than to trust her stepmother. Even with every threat of violence over her, she knew there was still a possibility for betrayal.

So, she went straight to her father’s private physician. He lived just off the house, ready to care for the family should anything happen.

He welcomed her with an open office and a cordial smile, but his face hardened when Abigail asked for a tox scan. She also wanted to know if he could do an alcohol test, to prove that there was none in her system.

The doctor, with a grim face, complied readily. And within moments, had taken two separate vials of her blood.

She then gave him the antidote, and asked him to test that it was safe.

With state-of-the-art technology, he had the results for her in minutes.

With the greatest worry, he ordered her to drink the antidote immediately, having taken a few drops out of it, to keep for record. He then compiled three sets of the reports for her, at her request. Abigail took one for herself, left one for the doctor, and asked that he send the extra copy to her father immediately.

If Charlotte struggled with the truth, this was going to help her to speak it easier, Abigail was sure.

Abigail left the doctor’s office, though having done something, and feeling accomplished, she also felt entirely drained, and suffocating.

She felt like the house was bearing down on her, like the weight of everything was far too oppressive for her to be inside it any longer. And not paying any attention to anyone or anything, she left the house, and made her way to the garden.

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She wasn’t walking for very long among the uncultivated trees, not caring where she was walking, when she bumped into someone.

She felt strong arms coming around her, and she immediately broke down into the strength engulfing her.

Mark whispered soothing words into her ear, running his hand down her back, and through her hair.

He held her like that for a long moment, when she finally pulled away from him.

She was a mess, she had to be. She hadn’t brushed her hair that morning, she had no make-up on, the antidote was still reeling through her system and she wouldn’t feel better for a while yet. She had been crying intermittently since she’d gotten to the house, and she couldn’t begin to imagine what she looked like overall.

“Hey, beautiful,” Mark whispered, tilting her face upwards to his, until he could gaze into her eyes. “I wish I could make it so that you didn’t have to feel this pain.”

And one sentence from him, and Abigail felt the world around her dissolve. Absolutely nothing mattered other than the strong arms around her.

Mark bit his lip, like was considering something for a moment, and, without warning, he pulled her close against him, and crushed his lips against hers.