“What happened to Mommy?” Jamie looked at Charlotte in puzzlement.
“I guess Mommy must be having an upset stomach and needs to poo. I’m always like that, too.” Ellie commented.
“Daddy, did you quarrel with Mommy?” Robbie asked abruptly with his brows furrowed. “Mommy seems to be unhappy.”
Zachary explained patiently to the kids, “No, we didn’t quarrel. Maybe she’s not feeling well. Let me check on her. You guys go ahead and have fun.”
“Alright.” The kids nodded obediently.
Zachary let Mrs. Rawlston and the three nurses accompanied the kids to the garden. Then, he darted toward the washroom and yelled as he knocked lightly on the door, “Charlotte! Are you all right?”
“Anything?” Charlotte gritted the word out with great difficulty. She broke into a cold sweat and slumped on the floor, enduring the excruciating pain. She was too feeble to say anything else; there was a sense of weariness in her voice.
“Are you all right?” Zachary asked again, sensing something strange in her voice.
“I’m just having an upset stomach…” Charlotte forced herself to sound as natural as possible. “Don’t worry about me. You go ahead and accompany the kids first.”
“Alright.”
As Zachary did not have any experience staying under the same roof with women, he did not know how to read a woman’s mind.
He really thought that Charlotte was just having a normal upset stomach and needed to answer nature’s call. It was quite embarrassing for both of them if he continued to stand outside the washroom and ask further. Hence, he decided to give her some space and just walked away.
At the moment, Charlotte was writhing in pain on the floor.
As time went by, the unbearable pain on her right arm spread gradually to her right shoulder. Even the right side of her head was in pain now…
Meanwhile, Mrs. Berry started to wonder why it took Charlotte so long to join them in the garden. She instinctively stepped into the house to look for her. “Where is Miss?” she asked the maids when there was still no sign of Charlotte.
“She’s in the washroom,” she replied.
“She’s in there for such a long time?” Mrs. Berry started to sense something amiss and ran hastily toward the washroom. She knocked on the door while yelling, “Miss, are you inside? Miss…”
There was no response. Mrs. Berry twisted the door handle anxiously, yet it was locked from the other side.
Instantly, her face turned pale. She was about to knock herself on the door with full force.
At the same time, the door was suddenly opened.
Mrs. Berry almost lost her balance and bumped into the wall.
She managed to balance herself and turned to look at Charlotte. To her astonishment, Charlotte was lying on the floor. Her face was as pale as a sheet, and she was drenched in sweat.
“Miss!” Mrs. Berry panicked and quickly helped her to sit up.
“Shh… don’t let anyone hear you…” Charlotte signaled and whispered at her weakly.
“Miss, w-what happened to you?” Mrs. Berry started to quiver. “Let me call… Dr. Langhan now…” she said incoherently.
“Don’t call her!” Charlotte gripped her hand and stopped her. “Just help me back to your room first. I’ll be fine after having a rest there.”
Mrs. Berry helped her up at once.
Charlotte was too weak to stand, so she leaned on Mrs. Berry.
Mrs. Berry helped her out from the washroom and headed slowly toward her bedroom. Fortunately, all the other maids were occupied so none of them discovered anything.
Mrs. Berry’s heaved a sigh of relief when they reached her bedroom. She let Charlotte lie down on her bed and closed the door hastily. After that, she poured some warm water for her.
After taking a sip of the warm water, Charlotte was still in pain and did not have any strength to move.
Mrs. Berry brushed her hair aside and wiped the sweat off her forehead. Looking at Charlotte’s piteous condition, her heart ached as she asked anxiously, “What’s the matter with you? You’re not feeling well? Why don’t you see a doctor?”
“I was poisoned. It’s useless to see doctor. Dr. Langhan had carried out a full body checkup for me, yet nothing could be traced…” she smiled bitterly at Mrs. Berry.
“What? You have been poisoned? Don’t scare me! What type of poison is that?” Mrs. Berry was astonished.
“I’ve no idea…” Charlotte held her hand and replied weakly, “Mrs. Berry, looks like I need to leave for a while. I’ll try to see if I can come across any TCM doctor who is able to treat me.”
“Alright. Let me tell Mr. Zachary…”
“No! Don’t tell him about this!” Charlotte grabbed hold of her arm anxiously before she could finish her sentence.
