lyn
n't k
n under my hand, revealing my stepmother reclining
king. "Adalyn. Where are your manners? The ceremony i
k and placed a folded document on the polished wood. A summa
his now? It will be transferred as part of your dowry once you're mated to Beckham. Though frankly, I'm surprised you can even
ter. In my first life, it would have
iron. "I want it now. According to the terms of the trust, full contro
eing me for the first time. She hadn't expected the
e. "These matters are handled by your father and me. A girl like you has no business meddling
ld her gaze, letting her see the abyss that had replaced my innocence. "I'm not
er, brown liquid sloshing over the de
streaked with tears. "Mother! She's gone mad! Adalyn is breakin
asmine to me, her eyes wide
"Whether I'm mad is irrelevant. What is relevant is that if I do not marry Beckham today,
ad just articulated the ugly
y mother's fortune, was meant to secure Jasmine's future, to
oice was a shrill shriek. "This
a servant in my own home. You dressed me in rags while your daughter wore silk. You schemed to marry me off
She was thinking of the years of careful embezzlement, the fu
tone cast into the placid surface of her life. "I'm here to inform you. Before I leave t
ce hang in the
mother's family lawyers. Every illegal withdrawal. Every forged signature. Every coi
ll shot. An audit would ruin
Mother, don't give it to her
ntirely on the woman whose greed had helped
rned and walked out, my ba
to my back. But I also knew, with abs
g the gardens. A few maids were gathered by the rose bushes, whispering amongst them
s drifted through
McClure c
h a poor
chest. Before I dealt with Beckham, before I faced
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