Filed to story: Seventeen Heartbreaks: When Love Has No Voice
Lacey felt a bit of relief, but she stayed cautiously hopeful. Working together with someone like Clayton wasn’t a plan for the distant future.
After mulling it over, Lacey chose to stay quiet and record their discussions. She then resolved to go along with Clayton’s plan.
Late at night, Leo received a sudden message that someone had broken in with the intent to murder Lacey.
But Lacey had caught on just in time. She was too worried about Landon to sleep. No matter how much she fought back, they had forced poison down her throat.
Luckily, Leo showed up with backup right at the crucial moment. As some held the intruder down, the rest rushed Lacey off to the hospital. Lacey was vomiting dark blood the entire time. The pain in her stomach was so overwhelming that it almost drove her mad. Her face contorted in sheer anguish. The pain was too much to bear. She never wanted to go through anything like this again. All she wanted was for her actions to exonerate her this time.
Once everything was settled, Leo stood in the room where Lacey had previously rested and gotten poisoned. His frown deepened as he stared at the wide-open window. The window showed no signs of being forced open, which suggested that it had been left open originally.
While it was common to open windows for some fresh air, it was odd to do so on cold nights in the mountains, where the cold breeze was nearly unbearable. Nobody would choose to sleep with the window open.
However, Leo thought it wasn’t reasonable to suspect Lacey solely because of the open window. After all, Lacey had been poisoned. She had no reason to hurt herself. It was possible, though, that Lacey might have been the one to poison Landon, which could explain why she had poison on her.
At first, Leo had his suspicions about Lacey but hadn’t shared them with Landon, as he didn’t believe them himself. After all, it was obvious to everyone how deeply Lacey wanted to be with Landon. If Landon were to die, it would do Lacey no good whatsoever. Leo felt he was probably overthinking it.
But Leo never expected his brief suspicion would actually prove correct. Lacey’s fleeting thought was so drastic that most people couldn’t even begin to comprehend it.
Like Landon, Lacey was saved just in time, though her condition was somewhat better. With her background in medicine, she was always meticulous about taking care of her health. She often worked with herbal medicine, and given that all…
Medicines carry some toxicity, but her years of handling them had helped Lacey build a slight resistance to poison.
When the doctor confirmed she was not in any immediate danger, Lacey let out a sigh of relief. But she didn’t feel right. Her stomach ached lightly, her head spun, she had no appetite, and nausea overwhelmed her.
When Lacey thought about how Landon had endured this misery for days, a sudden wave of guilt washed over her. But there was nothing she could do about it.
Lacey knew that if she were faced with the same situation again, she might still make the same decision. After all, it wasn’t her fault. Her profound love for Landon was no secret. Everyone knew it, Landon included. Seeing Landon heartbroken and drowning his sorrows over Leila, how could she possibly stay calm?
Lacey came up with plenty of justifications for her actions, which helped ease much of her guilt.
After spending another morning lying in bed, Lacey’s eyes slowly filled with clarity and resolve. She sat up shakily, and a caregiver quickly stepped in to steady her.
The caregiver couldn’t resist saying to Lacey, “Miss Payne, the doctor said that you should focus on resting and healing. You’ve just narrowly escaped death, and it’s really better for you to stay in bed.”
Lacey knew this all too well, and the moment she tried to stand, her legs began to shake and give way beneath her. With every step she took, her stomach pain intensified. But she felt an urgent need to find Landon and share everything with him. If she didn’t, her suffering would have been for nothing.
Lacey said in a serious tone, “I need to speak with Mr. Kensington right away. It’s important. Moreover, this matter concerns his poisoning. Are you really going to try to stop me?”
The caregivers, who were all employees of Landon, looked at one another and realized that they had no choice but to relay this to Leo.
Leo eventually gave his consent.
Because Lacey couldn’t walk, the caregivers wheeled her over in a wheelchair.
Even though Lacey was in better shape than Landon, she had just woken up. Her face was pale and devoid of color, and she had dark circles under her eyes. She appeared even more frail than Landon did.
Upon entering Landon’s hospital room, Lacey saw him silently gazing out the window. As Lacey entered, Landon showed no reaction, like an empty shell with no soul.
The sight of him like this struck Lacey with a sharp twinge of heartache tinged with resentment. Did he love Leila to such an extent? He still clung to memories of Leila as he refused to eat or take his medicine.
In the past, Lacey would have been mindful of Landon’s feelings, cautious not to upset him further with her words. But now, her stance had changed. Perhaps he needed to face a harsher reality to truly reach a point of desperation. Healing often required passing through pain. With this conviction, Lacey’s expression hardened into determination. Her voice was weak as she said, “Mr. Kensington, I have something very important to tell you.”
Having stressed her point, Lacey felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her.
Landon’s response was faint.
“Okay.” He didn’t question why Lacey, despite being in severe pain, had made it a priority to come and speak to him directly.
Lacey was accustomed to Landon’s passive nature by now but was still frustrated. She gritted her teeth and continued, “It’s about Leila. I think it’s very important, so I wanted to tell you right away.”
As Landon heard this, he abruptly turned toward her. His gaunt, handsome face finally stirred with emotion. It was clear that only topics related to Leila could spark any reaction from him.
This realization deepened the ache in Lacey’s heart.
Beside them, Leo became noticeably alert upon hearing the exchange. At first, Lacey had been adamant about meeting Landon because she claimed to know who had poisoned him. But now, in front of Landon, she changed the subject to Leila. What was Lacey implying? Was she suggesting that Leila was behind the poisoning?
Although both Landon and Leo had their suspicions, they had no concrete evidence.
And while Leo harbored doubts about Leila, he found himself even more skeptical of Lacey. Lacey could be attempting to divert their attention for her own benefit.
With this suspicion in mind, Leo addressed her sternly.
“Miss Payne, I will look into these claims thoroughly. I hope you’re not making false accusations without real proof.”
Lacey shot a glance at Leo’s cold face and clenched her teeth in anger. It was always Leo. But this time, she was determined that he wouldn’t thwart her efforts. She hadn’t come to point fingers but to tell Landon the truth.
Lacey flashed Leo a cunning grin and quickly started stirring trouble.
“Leo, what’s got you so agitated? I haven’t even brought up Leila. It’s odd how you’re jumping to her defense. Do you have a soft spot for her or something?”
Leo’s expression turned sour with annoyance. Lacey was crossing the line, even in front of Landon.
Leo understood that it was wiser not to get into an argument. The more he defended himself, the more it would make him look guilty. All he could do was maintain a stern, troubled look.
“I just don’t want Mr. Kensington to get the wrong idea from some baseless rumors. Why you think this way of me, I can’t figure out.”
Lacey exhaled sharply, clearly done with the back-and-forth with Leo. She felt sick and was eager to settle the issue quickly so she could get some rest. She wheeled herself closer to Landon.
“Mr. Kensington,” Lacey began, looking sincere.
“It wasn’t Leila who poisoned you. It was Clayton.”
A strange emotion flickered in Landon’s eyes upon hearing her statement. His voice was a bit rough, as it was the first time he had spoken that day.
“Why would you say that? Do you have proof?”
Lacey offered a rueful smile.
“I don’t have any proof. I can only share what I saw and heard.”
She explained that the person who had slipped in the previous night worked for Clayton. That person had threatened her, attempting to shift the blame onto Leila.
When Lacey had stood her ground, the person tried to poison her-an order from Clayton, who was convinced that Landon was alive only because of Lacey’s medical expertise. Clayton believed that if Lacey were to die, Landon wouldn’t make it either.
Luckily, Leo had sensed danger and showed up just when he was needed.
Landon absorbed every word, his hands clenching the white bed sheets. Such rash actions didn’t typically match Clayton’s usual manner. However, given his drunken state then and the presence of a traitor among his men, it wasn’t shocking that Clayton might take such a chance.
Landon analyzed the situation. Clayton had probably seen this as his prime opportunity to take Landon out, so Clayton’s hostile moves came as no surprise. This explanation absolved Leila. Landon had always believed that Leila was not capable of such cruelty.
Watching Landon’s expressions evolve, Lacey could tell what he was thinking, and she felt a swirl of helplessness and sorrow. When would Landon understand that she was the only one who genuinely cared about him? Leila was just a hindrance to him.
Lacey longed to tell Landon that Leila had been abducted by Clayton, obviously plotting against him. But she had already said so much. She couldn’t reveal more. Saying anything else might only turn the suspicion toward herself. Even though her statements seemed to exonerate Leila, Landon would eventually find out about Leila being locked up by Clayton. With her calculated words, Lacey was sure it was only natural for Landon to start questioning Leila’s loyalty.
With her objective met, Lacey knew she had to restrain herself despite her frustration.
Landon gazed at Lacey, his eyes reflecting an uncommon tenderness.
“I appreciate you sharing this with me.”
For a moment, Lacey was unsure of her emotions. She nodded gently and added with a hint of sadness, “Mr. Kensington, I don’t mean anything else. I just want to pull you out of the whirlwind of sadness and despair, hoping you can focus on your recovery. Even though Leila and I aren’t exactly friends, I’d never want anything bad to happen to you.”
Lacey’s words seemed sincere, leaving no room for doubts. Landon didn’t say much else. He simply gestured for the caregiver to take Lacey back to her ward.
