His Wife Poisoned Him—A Servant's Daughter Saw Everything

CHAPTER 1 -- The Girl on the Garden Path

Adrian Vale heard the girl before he saw her.

Small shoes struck the wet stones. Branches snapped. Someone was running toward him with the desperate speed of a person being chased.

"You're not blind!"

Before Adrian could respond, she pulled away his dark glasses.

His blue eyes opened.

Across the garden, his wife, Eleanor, froze.

For six months, everyone at Blackthorn Manor had believed Adrian was blind. Dr. Lawrence Mercer blamed a rare degenerative condition and warned that his sight would never return.

But three days earlier, Adrian had awakened able to see shadows.

That morning, he had recognized the silver teapot beside his bed.

He told no one.

The girl held out a stained white napkin.

"It was your wife," she whispered. "She put something in your food."

Adrian examined the blue residue.

"What is your name?"

"Lucy Finch."

The name struck him immediately.

Lucy was the daughter of Margaret Finch, Blackthorn's former housekeeper. Margaret had been arrested for stealing Eleanor's sapphire necklace shortly before Adrian lost his sight.

Eleanor approached them, her expression carefully composed.

"That child has been hiding on the estate," she said. "The constable has been searching for her."

Lucy moved behind Adrian.

"She saw me in the pantry. She tried to lock me in the cellar."

Eleanor laughed.

"Her mother is a thief. Now the daughter has come to extort us."

Adrian rose from the chair without reaching for his cane.

Eleanor's face changed.

He turned directly toward her.

"What did you do to me?"

"Your eyes recovered," she stammered. "It's a miracle."

"No. You look terrified."

Adrian folded the stained cloth and placed it inside his pocket.

Then Eleanor delivered a warning meant to destroy Lucy's credibility.

"Before you believe her, ask why her mother was searching your private study the night she was arrested."

Lucy's eyes filled with tears.

"She wasn't stealing."

"What was she doing?" Adrian asked.

Lucy reached beneath her torn dress and removed a small brass key.

"She was hiding this from your wife."

Adrian recognized the crest engraved upon it.

It belonged to his late father's private archive.

And that archive contained the original will Eleanor claimed had been destroyed.