Tang Xiaonan had another suspicion. In the book, Jacqueline Spann visited Frederick Thorne, and shortly after, Frederick’s madness worsened. He ran off on his own and drowned. After that, Jacqueline Spann’s winery started producing the authentic Beauty Drunk wine. ’There has to be a connection between those two things.’

Tang Xiaonan’s heart pounded as a possibility occurred to her. ’Could Jacqueline Spann have done something to Frederick Thorne, directly causing his madness to become more severe?’

’Only Frederick Thorne knows the recipe for Beauty Drunk. Jacqueline Spann must have gotten her recipe from him. By then, Frederick wasn’t in his right mind; he barely recognized his own parents and brothers. There’s no way he would have given Jacqueline the recipe. That woman must have used some underhanded method. Frederick’s death must be directly related to her, too.’ 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Tang Xiaonan clenched her jaw. ’Damn it, that mother and daughter are a pair of cobras. The Thorne family’s tragedy is inextricably linked to them. And the original owner of this body’s death... perhaps Jacqueline Spann arranged that on purpose, too.’

’I used to think the Thorne family’s tragedy was just a cruel twist of fate, but now it’s obvious someone orchestrated it. Since I’m here now, I’m going to protect the Thorne family. Neither Phoenix Golding nor her daughter will get away with anything.’

’So what if Jacqueline Spann has a protagonist’s halo? For now, at least, I don’t see anything so special about her. Maybe now that I’m here, her halo will start to fade.’

"That woman ate so much of our meat!" Phoebe Huxley was still fuming. She shot a resentful glare at Felix Thorne.

Felix Thorne’s expression grew even darker. He, too, was heartbroken over the meat. It had to be thirty or forty pounds in total. It was all his second brother’s fault for not explaining things clearly. It wasn’t like he was a stingy person, so why be so secretive? It made him lose dozens of pounds of meat for nothing!

The angrier he got, the more Felix Thorne glared at Frederick Thorne.

"Thankfully, heaven is watching over the Thorne family, so that venomous woman didn’t get her way," Byron Thorne said, his face grim. "We can’t make a scene about this yet. We’ll have to wait and see when the police crack the case." Phoenix Golding had gone too far, and he had no intention of letting the matter rest.

’Tomorrow, I’ll go find Shane Thorne and discuss how to teach that family a lesson. I’m not interested in petty squabbles. If we’re going to strike, it has to be a heavy blow. Phoenix Golding isn’t the only one who knows how to play dirty tricks.’

"I can’t stomach this! I’m going to find that old hag right now and settle the score!"

Raina started cursing, ready to storm off and pick a fight. She had nearly been the cause of her own grandson’s death, and it was all that damned old hag’s fault.

"What score are you going to settle now? If we’re going to make a scene, we have to go big. This isn’t over by a long shot, but now isn’t the time," Byron Thorne said, his face dark. He was even more furious than Raina, but he knew they had to be patient.

’There’s no rush for revenge. I’ll turn Phoenix Golding’s family into pariahs in Millstone Peak, hated by all. They just wait and see!’

Phoebe Huxley pulled Raina back and whispered, "We have to haul manure tomorrow. I’ll dump it all over that old hag to let off some steam."

"Get the watery kind," Raina suggested. "The one with lots of maggots."

Phoebe Huxley nodded vigorously. For once, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were in perfect harmony, whispering and plotting together. Cradled in Phoebe Huxley’s arm, Tang Xiaonan sighed and looked at the sky. ’Are my mom and grandma the real mother-daughter pair here?’

Frederick Thorne had to return to town that night, so Raina caught two chickens for him to take with him. When Frederick saw that the number of chickens and ducks had nearly doubled, and that there was even a litter of plump, round rabbits, he couldn’t help but worry. "Mom, you need to be careful," he said. "The government policies aren’t fully relaxed yet. It’s better not to raise rabbits."