The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella and Romeo) novel Chapter 1829

Arabella's conclusion sent a wave of panic through the two. Poisoned? How could this have happened?

Now they were in deep trouble, and not even the mighty Mississippi could wash away their suspicion.

Under their watch, Erik had been poisoned. But as to when this had happened, they were clueless.

"Let's keep this under wraps for now," Arabella directed, her gaze steady on them. "You two will continue your duties here as if nothing's amiss."

"Yes, Miss," they replied, shivering.

"All right, dry those tears. Take a break over there; but stay out of sight. I’ll call you when I’m done."

The basement was expansive, housing not only this room, but also many other rooms like a game room, a home theater, and a storage room.

Besides these, there were two small gardens in the basement, perfectly illuminated by shafts of light from above.

"Steer clear of the gardens," Arabella instructed, wary of onlookers from above.

"Yes, Miss," they nodded before retreating.

"Hans, I want to perform an autopsy on the body, see what kind of poison leads to his death, maybe we can find some clues," Arabella whispered to Hans. "Make sure to tell Mom and Dad without anyone overhearing."

"Got it. You sure you don't need an extra pair of hands to help?"

"It's better if it's just me; I don't want to draw attention."

"Alright, come up when you're done," Hans said before leaving.

Kenneth's speculation was cut short by Hans's input, "It's likely a true death. Bella's diagnosis is never off, Kenneth."

If it were a faked death, Bella's medical expertise should have caught it.

"If it's a real death, then there's only one explanation—Martin poisoned Erik before the handoff, whether Erik was complicit or not."

"That Martin, playing us for fools! I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!" Louisa fumed, dialing Martin's number with a vengeance.

Meanwhile, Martin sat on a bench outside the emergency room, surrounded by highly skilled doctors who had yet to bring Serena back from death's door.

The light above the emergency room had been on all night and still, there was no good news.