Chapter 68

The man was being totally uncooperative,so the two bodyguards grabbed his face to hold him still.

In his wide, terrified eyes, the reflection of a mechanical dog with wings filled his vision.

"Mmmf! Mmmmf!"

He stared in horror, helpless as Nova Tech calmly tattooed his lips.

Three minutes later, Nova Tech retracted the steel needle and flew back to Megan's shoulder like nothing had happened.

Hovering over the crying man on his knees, it commented, "Oops, Nova might've made his mouth look like a clown's."

The guy's teeth were chattering. The moment that needle started jabbing into his skin non-stop, he knew -his face was done for.

The people around the dining table were all stunned.

Especially Sophia and Evelyn, whose guilty expressions were impossible to hide.

Megan raised an eyebrow and glanced at the man drenched in cold sweat. "Want me to throw in some eyeliner too? Worst case, it gets inked on your eyeballs."

Nova gave an excited "Yoo-hoo!" and zipped toward the man again.

"Stop! Please! I'll talk-I'll tell you whatever you want,just don't let that thing touch me again!" he yelled out in panic.

Megan exchanged a look with Kai, who immediately dragged a chair over with a knowing nod.

She sat down like a queen, her sharp gaze locked on the man kneeling before her. "Then start talking."

The man shot a glance at Sophia. "Last night, a woman called and asked for a poison that kills without a trace. We agreed to meet in the alley between the coffee shop and the sushi place. Just to be safe, I sent one of my guys from an internet café to handle it. Still got caught in the end. Lucky me."

Megan's eyes turned icy. "Tell me more about this invisible poison. How does it work? What happens to the person who takes it?"

He kept talking, "It's a small white pill-contains botulinum toxin. That stuff's lethal. Type-A is especially bad-odorless, colorless, dissolves easily in water.It attacks the nervous system, causes dizziness,trouble breathing, and if the respiratory muscles stop working, death. Just 0.24 milligrams can kill someone."

Megan turned to look at Sophia, her eyes narrowing."Aunt Sophia, I'm guessing the dose you put in my wine was way more than 0.24 milligrams, right?" Sophia clenched her fists tight and forced a calm voice, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Megan actually liked this type-the ones who insisted until the bitter end. They usually got slapped the hardest by the truth.

She tilted her chin at the man. "Eighteen years ago,this same woman also bought that poison from you.Ring any bells?"

The man studied Sophia's face closely. She instantly dropped her stare, clearly rattled.

Sure,eighteen years will age most people.

But Sophia had maintained herself well over the years -sadly, only on the outside. The darkness inside? Still alive and kicking.

He nodded hard. "It's her. She bought that same poison from me back then too."

"You're lying!" Sophia screamed. "They made you say this to frame me!"

He held up his hands. "Look, I remember her because she was stunning. Didn't expect someone that pretty to be looking for murder drugs. I even gave her a nickname-Venomous Beauty."

Sophia kept shouting her denial.

"Shut it!" Mr. Reid slammed his hand on the table,making her go silent instantly.

He looked at Megan. "Go on, Megan."

She gave a small nod. "Eighteen years ago, Tristan's mom-Henrietta-died because of you."

Sophia's eyes went wide with shock. "No-it wasn't me!You're lying! She died of lung cancer! I had nothing to do with it-not me, I swear! Megan,you ruined my son,and now you're coming after me? You're seriously twisted!"

"Mr. Reid, please believe me!"

Megan gave a light tap on Nova Tech perched on her shoulder. "Go ahead, pull up the footage from that killer's room."

Nova jumped up on the dining table and stuck its rear up as it played a surveillance clip.

On screen, Sophia was seen pulling out a phone from the drawer and dialing a number, asking for a drug that could kill without a trace.

Then came a call from Evelyn, and their whole exchange played loud and clear for everyone to hear -along with Sophia's cold, vicious look.

A harsh scraping sound followed as chairs pushed back. Both Nathan and Tristan stood up at once.

Nathan got to her first. Furious, he lunged at Sophia,grabbed her by the neck, and hoisted her off the floor.

"You venomous thing! You played dirty! When Henrietta brought Tristan back to me, I used everything I had to find her, to get her treated. Who would've thought you were the one pulling strings from the shadows, killing her!" Sophia's face turned red. She clawed at Nathan's arms,eyes rolling back.

Megan walked over and held Tristan's shaking hand,then looked at Nathan, softly calling out, "M. Reid."

That brought Nathan back to his senses. He let go and flung Sophia to the ground.

Gasping for breath, she suddenly broke into sobs, "If it weren't for that damn woman, I wouldn't have ended up so miserable!"

Nathan exploded, "If you hadn't torn us apart... me,Henrietta, and Tristan could've had a good life!"

Sophia laughed scornfully, "Torn apart? Then why didn't you run off with her back then?"

Nathan gritted his teeth. "If my mother hadn't threatened me with her death,you think I'd have given in?"

Sophia sneered, "Exactly. In the end, you still picked your mommy."

The weight of his own choices crushed Nathan; regret clawed at him.

Right after Henrietta left, he'd tried so hard to find her.But in that era, if someone truly didn't want to be found,you just wouldn't. Period.

Just like someone pretending to be asleep-you could scream all day and they still wouldn't wake up.

Nathan's throat burned. Blood spurted from his mouth.

Tristan and Megan caught him and helped him into a chair.

Kai was already on the phone with 911.

Tristan stepped toward Sophia. Kneeling beside her,he looked her dead in the eye, voice like frozen steel."Tell me,how do you deserve to be dealt with?"

Sophia started backing away on her hands, toes scraping the floor.

Megan came up beside him. "Honey, don't dirty your hands. Let the police handle it. Let her pay by the book."

Sophia nodded rapidly, like a chicken pecking rice. "Y -Yes! Turn me in! I'm willing to take the punishment!"

Megan glanced coldly down at her like she was just some bug. "Attempted murder gets death, life sentence, or at least ten years. Don't worry-you're looking at the first one. Should've been ended eighteen years ago."

"No! No-you've got it wrong! That was just nonsense -I neverkilled Henrietta. There's no proof!"

Megan gave a cold laugh. "This whole meal was prepped by you, and every second of you poisoning the dishes is on tape. You really think this is your first time doing this?"

Sophia froze, and the next second,she lunged toward the table like a madwoman.

Tristan raised his leg and kicked her square in the chest. The impact sent her flying over three meters.

She coughed up blood, but even so, it did nothing to ease the fury burning in everyone's hearts.

Megan gave Evelyn a sideways glance. "Aunty,covering for her makes you an accomplice."

She added coldly, "Better come clean when you get to the station. Being a co-conspirator's a big deal."