The Killer Queen

Ashlyn squinted her eyes. lying on the bed and looking all high and mighty at Noella, who had Rust walked in through the door. She snorted coldly. “Do you even know what time it is? Do I even exist to you anymore?”

Noella replied with indifference. “It’s seven in the morning. Can’t you tell the time? I thought second graders learned that. Maybe I should get you one of those talking digital clocks tomorrow.” Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

The wall clock was right there beside Ashlyn’s bed, impossible to miss. So, she must’ve forgotten how to tell time.

Ashlyn was so angry her chest heaved, and she was about to lose grip on her prayer beads!

“Great, just great, you little brat, trying to send me to an early grave, huh? I asked you here to take care of me, not to act like some spoiled princess.”

Noella was baffled. “Grandma, your mood swings are kind of intense. Should I get a neurologist. to check on you?”

Ashlyn was speechless.

Looking at Noella’s face, which bore a 60-70% resemblance to Sienna, Ashlyn’s mouth and nose almost twisted together in anger!

“Don’t you think you’ll have an easy time under my roof! Come here, I want an apple. Peel one for me.”

Noella sat down, picked up an apple from the fruit basket, and peeled it for Ashlyn.

No sooner had she finished peeling than Ashlyn’s eyebrows shot up. “What kind of peeling is this? You’ve taken half the flesh off! What am I supposed to eat?”

In Noella’s other hand was the apple skin, thin as a cicada’s wing. “If you don’t fancy the flesh, you can nibble on the skin, though I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Ashlyn was speechless again.

Country bumpkins like her surely had done plenty of rough and unsophisticated farm work. Peeling apples was something ladies and misses of high society would never dream of doing themselves.

Ashlyn glared at Noella with contempt in her eyes.

“I’ve lost my appetite. Get me a glass of water. I want it hot.”

“Sure thing.”

Noella stood up, poured a glass of water, and handed it to Ashlyn.

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“You damned girl, are you trying to scald me to death?”

Noella took out a thermometer. “The water’s 104 degrees Fahrenheit. If that’s too hot for you, maybe it’s time to consult a psychiatrist.”

Ashlyn was speechless.

Who the heck would carry around a thermometer for food?

“Are you implying I’m losing my marbles? You really want to drive me nuts! Is this how your parents raised you? Ha, such a fine daughter of the Schnabel family!”

“Thanks for the compliment, Grandma. I think I’m pretty fine, too.”

Ashlyn was speechless again.

This wild child was immune to both carrots and sticks!

“Go to the nurse’s station and fetch my meds for today. Just seeing your face gives me a headache!”

“Alright.”

Noella, ever so compliant, headed out to the nurse’s station and picked up Ashlyn’s medication for the day.

Holding the medicine box, Noella’s brow furrowed slightly. “Is this all Ashlyn’s medication?”

The nurse quickly explained, “Yes, some of them are additions she insisted on. We just prepare them daily as she requests; the rest is out of our hands!”

Noella was confused.

Self–prescribed?

Patients could just add their own meds now?

The nurse looked distressed. “She warned us not to tell Dr. Calvin, threatening to complain about us if we did. We can’t afford to cross her!”

Ashlyn’s character was something Noella was beginning to understand.

Sure enough, bullying was within her wheelhouse, and these fresh–faced nurses were no match for Marcel’s wife.

“I get it. You go on with your work.”

There was clearly something fishy about these meds! But it was evident that the medical staff didn’t arrange them; it was Ashlyn who snuck them in.

After some thought, Noella pulled out her phone and dialed Calvin’s number.

“I’m Noella. Can you swing by Imperial West Hospital?”

“You finally decided to call me! I’m on my way! Wait for me!”

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Calvin seemed to want to say more, but Noella hung up and promptly blacklisted him.

The man was simply too chatty for her liking, a real headache inducer.

“Grandma, got your meds.”

Ashlyn sat up, took the medicine from Noella’s hand, and eyed her suspiciously.

“Did you switch my meds? They look different from what Yvonne usually brings me.”

Noella was at a loss for words. Now, she suspected that Ashlyn had a severe case of paranoia.

“You can check the security footage: I brought them straight from the nurse’s station.”

Ashlyn grunted. “I doubt you have the guts for that. Just so you know, as long as I’m alive, you’re not setting foot in the Schnabel family home!”

Noella said calmly. “But I go there every day.”

How else would she get home?

Ashlyn was nearly choked with rage!

This cheeky girl just as unlikeable in her speech as her mother! Just looking at her brought bad luck, nothing like the sensible and lucky Yvonne.

After taking her medicine, Ashlyn started bossing Noella around again.

“Come, help me to the bathroom; I need to go.”

“Grandma, when did you become paralyzed?”

“What are you implying? Are you cursing me?!”

Noella said innocently, “People who aren’t paralyzed should be able to manage on their own. If you can’t, I’ll call a doctor to fit you with a catheter right away.”

Grumbling, under Noella’s guileless gaze, Ashlyn had no choice but to haul herself up to use the bathroom.

This girl was nothing compared to the sweet and helpful Yvonne, who always assisted her!

After using the bathroom, Ashlyn started clutching her heart and sighing dramatically.

“Oh dear my life is so hard, even the gods can’t bear to watch… oh dear…”

“Grandma, are you planning on divorcing Grandpa?”

Ashlyn’s headache and backache miraculously disappeared as she sat bolt upright, trembling finger pointed at Noella.

“You, you, you, you’re trying to kill me! What do you mean? Did your mother teach you to say that? Oh, that ungrateful woman. I knew she was up to no good!”

Noella’s gaze remained calm as she locked eyes with the increasingly hysterical Ashlyn. “If

12:28

you’re not divorcing Grandpa, then your life isn’t all that bad, don’t you think?”

Ashlyn could not utter a word.

She came from humble beginnings and hitched her wagon to Marcel. Ever since then, she had been on a fast track to the top, throwing around the title of “Mrs. Schnabel to boss people around for all these years.

This chick was totally shading her! It had to be Sienna’s doing!

Ashlyn was nearly out of breath and dozed off as soon as the medication hit.

Noella tucked her in and stepped out of the hospital room.

Calvin came hustling over and spotted a high school–looking girl standing outside Ashlyn’s

room..

She seemed young, with a face bright and charming as hills under a full moon–stunning yet dignified. But with a touch of baby fat still lingering, she couldn’t be more than in her early

teens.

“Are you Noella? I’m Calvin!”

“That’s me. Let’s talk over here.”

“Come to my office; we won’t be disturbed there.”

“Sure.”

Once the office door was closed, Calvin, all pumped up, blurted out, “Have you finally decided to join my lab?”

“Not happening. It’s a dead end.”

“How can you say that? Our lab’s got the second–best gear in the country, right after Ulrich Schnabel’s lab!”

Noella handed over the medicine she was holding to Calvin.

“This is Ashlyn’s medicine. There’s a huge problem with it. Take a look.”

Calvin took it, inspected it closely, and started sweating bullets!

“Isn’t this the Nourishment Pill that’s all the rage on the black market? Stuff’s deadly if you take too much!”

The Nourishment Pill was notorious not for miraculous effects but for causing delusions in patients, even making them believe they were cured, leading to a downward spiral into madness. In severe cases, it could cause addiction and even death!

How did the Nourishment Pill end up in Ashlyn’s meds?

He definitely didn’t prescribe that!