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