Derek entered the house to see Kathleen coming down from the stairs, he quickly rushed to her looking concerned, "why are you up? You should be in bed"
"I'm fine Derek, I'm feeling better" she glanced at him, he had told her about Geoffrey's suspicion and Mary's findings, "how did it go at the hospital?" She asked softly and his face went dark, from his expression, she knew what he had confirmed, " it's the juice, that means that maid was right, I'll have to find out right now" he turned in his heels and started walking towards Nicole's room, Kathleen following behind him, without knocking, he barged in, she was just about to apply makeup when he entered, she was all dressed and looked like she was going out, she jumped when she saw Derek and then smiled, "are you suddenly missing me?" She said just before her gaze fell on Kathleen and her eyes darkened with annoyance.
In two powerful strides, Derek reached her and held her by the throat, he was so angry he couldn't control himself, "how dare you poison Kathleen"
Instead of answering, Nicole coughed, her face was all red and Kathleen feared she might suffocate, she grabbed Derek's arms and urged him to release her, Derek thought for a while before giving in, he felt like killing Nicole right there, he suddenly released her and she fell, coughing and holding her throat, "so you dare to poison Kathleen" his face shows how furious he was and sweat beaded her forehead, " I...I... don't know what you're talking about"
"Cut the crab," he hissed as his gaze searched the room, he saw her purse on the table, it must have been the purse that the maid told him about, he went straight to it and opened it, spilling its content, Nicole stood up and rushed towards him, "what the hell do you think you're doing?" She stopped and her heart grew still when she saw what he was holding, it was a small bottle with a blue cap and without a label, of cause, the content had been spilled into Kathleen's sparkling juice, she had meant to dispose of it when she goes out today but Derek had barged in before she went out, she swallowed her saliva, he wouldn't know that it had contained poison, there was nothing but a few drops left inside.
Derek frowned and raised it, this looks like the bottle that Geoffrey had explained that the maid saw, but he had to confirm it, he gave Nicole a hard glare and without another word walked away with it.
Derek entered his car and Kathleen quickly got in beside him, " you're supposed to be in bed, I've got this covered"
Kathleen shook her head, "no Derek, I wished to go with you, I was the one who got poisoned, I want to find out the truth much more than you do"
Derek took a deep breath as he started the vehicle and drove straight to the hospital, the doctor checked the content and again confirmed that was the poison Kathleen had digested.
Kathleen gasp, she wasn't surprised for she had suspected Nicole, but the confirmation left her with a bitter feeling, how could she want to get rid of her? Sure, they weren't on good terms but she doesn't have the right to try to take her life, how could she be that cruel, Kathleen suddenly realized the kind of people she was up against, they are capable of committing murder, she had to watch her step carefully.
Nicole was confused about what to do, should she run away? She wondered where Derek had gone, he had left without a word, what's the chance of him finding out that the content of that bottle is what Kathleen had consumed, if she ran away, she would automatically label herself guilty. She ran to look for Marcella who watched her as she paced, "will you stop fidgeting and tell me what the matter is" Marcella snapped and Nicole narrated everything to her, "how could you be so stupid to poison her and let yourself get caught? You didn't even dispose of the evidence"
"I know, I'm so so stupid but what do I do now, I don't want to go to jail"
Marcella thought for a while, "calm down you won't go to jail, you're carrying his baby, he won't send you to jail"
Nicole jumped when she heard his car drove in, she hurriedly went downstairs to see Derek just entering the house, his Cold gaze landed on her and he walked towards her, Nicole shivered, "do you know you just attempted murder?" He asked icily and her palm grew sweaty.
Kathleen walked towards her and slapped her hard on her cheek, "how could you be so cruel? Do you want to kill me? For what?"
Nicole looked at her with so much hatred that Kathleen found herself unwittingly hugging herself
"So do you want to send me to jail?"
"They can't do that, not when you're carrying the future heir of Deloux empire" Marcella walked in at that moment eyeing Kathleen coldly
"Whatever mistake you have committed, Derek would have to let go, after all, you're carrying his child"
Kathleen gasped, "his child" echoing in her head, of cause, how could she forget that Derek's child is growing inside of Nicole.
"You're not the one to make decisions here" Derek snapped at Marcella
"So you'll send her to jail with your child?" Marcella countered
Derek clenched and unclenched his fist, he grabbed Nicole's jaw and tightened his grasp, "I want you to leave this house and never set your foot in here ever again"
"No Derek, you can't do that, your child is growing in my womb" Nicole gasp and he eyed her coldly, "when the child is born, I'll take full custody of it and you can get lost forever"
Nicole felt faint, this couldn't be happening, going away from here would definitely put an obstacle to her plans.
Marcella tried to intervene but Derek gave her a harsh word.
"Derek please, I'm sorry, I don't know what got into me" she tried desperately but Derek snarled at her, held her arm, and dragged her to the door as she struggled against him, he pushed her outside, " guards" he yelled angrily and three guards came forward, "the day I see this lady stepped into this house, you'll all lose your jobs"
The guards stared at each other before echoing, "Yes Sir"
"Now take her out" he directed as he shut the door firmly to her face.