ndria
emarkably
head maid. Martha was a widow whose seven-year-old daughter, April, was dying of a severe lung feve
es, my stepmother had dismissed her with cold contempt,
ound. Not just a vulnerab
, tucked behind a thick, unpruned rose hedge. The thorns snagged my sleev
tly, twisting her dirty apron. Her eyes darted aroun
he point. "Your daughter April... the f
ollapsed into the damp soil with a muffled sob. "Miss,
n to pull her elbow. "I am not here t
m the sale of my biological mother's old jewelry-a brooch and a pair of earr
her breath hitching. "Why...
"A pittance for wages? A cold shoulder while your child co
dust on her cheek. My words hit the
ur daughter a real future. Or you can stay loyal
chest, her knuckles turning white. "W
ristal's maid to put Ashvi
ant death if she were caught. Seeing her hes
e dripping with lethal coldness. "Is Christal-th
hattered her last
whisper. "She was furious that Lord Estrada might still want you! She wanted to mar your face f
e architect; Christal wa
moothly. "Now, g
m-sent her maid, Holly, to fetch the remai
ed into Christal's bedchamber carry
thy rat?" Christal snapped, not l
e to clean, Miss," M
r her own skirts. The heavy bucket flipped, sending dark, f
g off her stool and launching into a scree
x on the vanity, slipping open a hidden compartment with a silent click. She snatched the wax-paper pack
t took less tha
d out of the room. The moment she crossed the threshold into the dark
the evidence
specting the dull grey granules. The acrid, bur
d place it directly on my father's desk in his study. Let him see t
r eyes gleamin
ic footsteps thundered down the hallway. The head butler b
his face. "Lord Daryle Estrada... he's here! He just struck the gate
an instant
sooner and far more vici
mons. Nothing like this-not a forced break-in, not a public confrontation right
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