Chapter 575

Nicole Sterling's voice suddenly rose sharply.

It was piercing and shrill.

"I want you to regret this! I want you to taste the consequences of playing me!"

Evelyn Ross immediately spoke up.

"I'll go to the Castillo family right now and demand the antidote!"

Nicole Sterling let out a scornful laugh.

"I've already given Old Man Castillo a strict order. He will not give you the antidote before the DNA test results come out. And after the results? Ha. We both know you're lying to him."

"Evelyn Ross, if you had just admitted defeat and handed Chloe over to me, I might have spared your life. But you insisted on digging your own grave! Don't blame me for being ruthless! I want you to watch with your own eyes as your father dies right in front of you!"

With that.

The call was brutally disconnected.

Evelyn gripped the phone, her knuckles turning white.

She snapped her head up to look at Alexander Vance.

Alexander had been standing beside her the whole time, hearing every word of the conversation clearly.

He immediately said in a low voice, "This is my fault..."

He shouldn't have used verbal traps to pressure Nicole.

Even though he bought two days.

The cost was too high.

If he had known it would come to this...

Evelyn shook her head.

"No one could have predicted this."

They exchanged a look.

Simultaneously, they uttered three words.

"The Castillo family..."

They both understood.

Using force against the Castillos wouldn't work.

And using soft tactics wouldn't work now either.

The Castillo family had always adhered to the principle of preferring honor to compromise.

This was also why Alexander had said before that even surrounding the Castillo family with his overseas forces would only result in mutual destruction.

They never yielded to threats of force.

But what about Mr. Valentine?

Evelyn's mind was in turmoil.

A questioning voice suddenly came from beside them.

"What are you doing here?"

Evelyn turned.

She saw Susan Langley standing in front of Joanna Sterling.

Only then did she notice that besides the butler, Joanna was also in the corner of the room.

Joanna was trembling all over.

Her face was deathly pale.

"It wasn't me... I really didn't know there was poison in the coffee... I didn't know..."

Her appearance made everyone present understand.

Ethan Valentine roared.

"Was it you who poisoned my uncle?!"

Joanna frantically waved her hands.

"No! Really, it wasn't! I just brought Mr. Valentine a cup of coffee like I always do..."

The butler spoke up from the side.

"The master suddenly collapsed after drinking the coffee, so I asked her to stay here."

Evelyn immediately rushed to the desk.

The coffee cup was still there.

If there were any residue, perhaps they could determine the dosage of the poison.

But she looked down.

The coffee cup was spotlessly clean.

It had already been washed.

Evelyn whirled around to look at the butler.

The butler gave a bitter smile.

"After the master finished the coffee, Joanna rinsed it by the sink as a matter of course."

Susan immediately shrieked.

"So it was her who poisoned it! Otherwise, why would she rinse the coffee cup?!"

Tears welled up in Joanna's eyes.

"The master spilled a little while drinking the coffee and asked me to clean it up... That's why I cleaned it..."

Susan sneered.

"Hah, what a coincidence. You poured coffee for Uncle, he spilled it after drinking, and then asked you to clean up... Do you think we're all fools? Joanna, it was you who poisoned him!"

After saying that, she linked arms with Preston Valentine.

"Preston, I think she's the inside person for that woman! Call the police and have her arrested!"

Preston was completely stunned.

He looked at Joanna in disbelief.

Recently, he had interacted with Joanna the most at home.

He quite liked this quiet girl.

But he never expected...

She would poison Uncle?

Joanna shook her head, crying.

"It really wasn't me... I've been framed..."

Her eyes were red-rimmed.

But Susan pointed at her.

"Joanna, your excuses are useless now! Everyone saw it, the evidence is clear! You even cleaned up the scene, destroying the evidence! Don't take everyone for fools! Let me tell you, what you did is too obvious!"

She rushed up to Joanna.

And shoved her hard.

"How dare you? Do you know who this is? He's the head of the Valentine family! Even if your entire family were killed, it wouldn't make up for a single finger of his!"

Tears rolled down Joanna's face.

She looked at Mr. Valentine lying there, her whole body shaking.

She also understood what was happening.

She really had just poured coffee for Mr. Valentine and brought it upstairs as usual.

Mr. Valentine had even said it tasted good after drinking it.

Then he accidentally spilled a little on the table.

And asked her to clean it up.

Mr. Valentine had been in a video conference at the time.

So he got up and walked over to the window.

Joanna wiped the table.

Because there was a sink in the room, and the rim of the coffee cup was also stained, she was worried it might drip on the carpet when she carried it downstairs.

So she casually rinsed it by the sink.

After she finished handling everything and looked back at Mr. Valentine.

Mr. Valentine suddenly collapsed straight to the floor.

Joanna was terrified.

She immediately called the butler over.

Now she really couldn't clear her name even if she jumped into the river.

Because everything was too coincidental.

She was on the verge of breaking down.

"It really wasn't me... Fifth Young Master, please believe me..."

Preston stared at her.

Then he looked at Evelyn.

As if he wanted to speak up for her.

But Susan tightly held onto his arm.

"Preston, Uncle is still lying here, his life hanging by a thread. You're not going to speak up for a murderer, are you?"

Preston choked.

He looked at Joanna, wanting to speak but hesitating.

In the end, he turned his head away.

Susan immediately said.

"What are we waiting for? Even if we can't call the police, we can lock her up first!"

Joanna's legs gave way.

She collapsed to the floor.

Preston finally couldn't hold back.

"This matter isn't settled yet... After all, there's no evidence..."

Susan sneered.

"Because she cleaned it all up! How could there be evidence? But Preston, I just thought of a way to save Uncle..."

Preston's eyes lit up.

"What way?"

Susan walked up to Joanna.

Grabbed her hair.

Forcing Joanna to look up.

Susan curled her lips.

"She's the one who poisoned him, so she must know the formula, right?"

Joanna immediately shook her head.

"I really don't know..."

Slap!

Susan slapped her hard across the face.

A flash of satisfaction gleamed in her eyes.

"Tsk tsk, still playing tough!"

She raised her hand.

Another slap landed.

"Are you going to talk or not?!"

Joanna was dazed from the blows.

"I really don't know..."

"Fine. Since you won't talk, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Susan picked up a nearby vase.

She sneered.

"If you still don't talk, this vase is coming down on your head!"

Joanna's pupils contracted violently.

If such a large vase were to hit her.

She would surely die.

So if she couldn't clear her suspicion today.

Was she going to die right here?

A look of despair flashed in her eyes.

Just then—