- 3 hours ago
Rejected by every man she ever trusted, she makes an impossible choice—becoming the bride of the mysterious Serpent King. As dark secrets, forbidden love, and ancient powers collide, she discovers that the monster everyone feared may be the only one who truly loves her.
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00:00My half-sister and I both chose a shifter mate.
00:02In our previous life, she picked first and chose the Hawk Clan heir
00:06with the perfect looks and powerful family background.
00:09She left me the lowly serpent.
00:11Three years into her marriage, the Hawk Shifter's mistress and illegitimate son
00:15knelt before my sister and humiliated her completely.
00:19Meanwhile, I took control of the entire serpent clan and earned my husband's devotion.
00:24She pushed me off a cliff out of jealousy.
00:27When I opened my eyes, I was back on the day we chose our mates.
00:30My sister barely concealed the excitement in her voice
00:33as she rushed to wrap her arms around the serpent's tail.
00:36I knew then that she had been reborn too.
00:38The serpent clan are lustful by nature.
00:41I wonder how long she'll last.
00:42When Victoria threw her arms around that serpent tail,
00:45face flushed with open adoration, even Lady Hargrove went still.
00:50Everyone knew the serpent clan was considered the lowest of the shifter races,
00:54cold-blooded in every sense.
00:56The Hawk Clan, by contrast, made it for life.
00:59One wife, no exceptions.
01:01Loyalty written into their bones.
01:03And the Hawk male standing in the room today was the future clan leader.
01:07Sharp-eyed, broad-shouldered,
01:09the kind of man every woman in the room had been silently hoping to catch.
01:13Victoria still wouldn't let go of that tail.
01:15Lady Hargrove's expression curdled.
01:17She'd brought the serpent here specifically to humiliate me.
01:20She hadn't planned on her own daughter falling for it.
01:23Are you sure about this?
01:25Mother, he's the only one I'll ever marry.
01:28Even the serpent turned to look at her.
01:30His tail coiled hard around her waist, pulling her tight against his chest.
01:34That was what a serpent did when he felt something.
01:36The beginning of desire.
01:38Victoria's face went scarlet.
01:40Her resolve locked into place.
01:41Lady Hargrove pressed her lips together and gave in.
01:44With that settled, the Hawk male, Adrian Ashford, turned to me.
01:48He dipped his head in a slight, unhurried bow.
01:50Then it's you, Miss Alara.
01:53I'll send the betrothal gifts tomorrow.
01:55In my past life, it was Victoria who had chosen Adrian.
01:58She'd walked into the Ashford estate as its new mistress,
02:02draped in the prestige of the most powerful Hawk family in the region.
02:05He seemed devoted on the surface.
02:07Three years of polished appearances.
02:09Then a woman appeared at the gate with his ten-year-old son.
02:12Victoria came apart.
02:14She ran home to her mother, dignity in pieces.
02:17But Adrian had spent years building his reputation carefully.
02:20He brought the woman and boy home under the excuse of a drunken mistake.
02:24And to protect the Hawk clan's tradition against taking a second wife,
02:27he divorced Victoria outright.
02:29Lady Hargrove marched back to the Ashford estate to demand answers.
02:33The mistress met them at the door, chin lifted.
02:35I'm Mrs. Ashford now.
02:36My son has awakened his abilities.
02:39What exactly are you going to do about that?
02:41Give it time.
02:42I'll be the clan leader's wife, then his mother.
02:45They were thrown out publicly.
02:47After that, Victoria unraveled.
02:49She sat in the courtyard every day, vacant and muttering.
02:52When someone passed close enough, she grabbed their leg with both hands, her face twisting.
02:57I'm the clan leader's wife!
02:59I am!
03:00I am!
03:01She never came back from it.
03:03My serpent husband, by contrast, had been born into nothing.
03:06But he dismissed every one of his kept women.
03:09He trained relentlessly and built his clan up from scraps.
03:12People said I'd made the better choice, after all.
03:14Even Lady Hargrove, who had never bothered to hide her contempt for me, started showing up at my door with
03:20smiles she didn't mean.
03:23Asking me to visit.
03:24Then, Victoria had one of her lucid moments.
03:27She lured me to the edge of the cliff.
03:28I'll drag you down to hell with me.
03:31Her eyes were made for hatred as she shoved me over.
03:35Now she's chosen my husband instead.
03:37I wonder if she can handle the serpent's excessive affection.
03:41The Ashford betrothal gifts arrived quickly.
03:44They filled half the courtyard.
03:45Victoria didn't spare a glance for the serpent clan's meager offering.
03:49She sweet-talked Lady Hargrove into patting her trousseau until it groaned.
03:53Ivy told me that Victoria and her serpent had been meeting in secret.
03:56Someone had spotted them coming out of an alley together.
03:59Clothes barely clinging to them, her face still flushed.
04:03Half the street had seen it.
04:04She came to me the same afternoon, brimming.
04:07My fiancé loves me!
04:09What does that have to do with you?
04:10This is just how he shows his love for me.
04:14And if you say a single word to mother about any of it,
04:18I'll make your life miserable.
04:20I just watched her go.
04:22She looked nothing like the girl she used to be.
04:24The softness was gone.
04:26Whatever innocence had been in her face had been thoroughly used up.
04:29On our wedding day, two wedding horse carriage left the estate together.
04:33Drums, horns, the whole performance.
04:35Adrian Ashford sat high on a pale horse in his wedding white.
04:39All clean lines and devastating bone structure.
04:42Looking exactly like someone who knew it.
04:44I knew why he'd gone through with this.
04:46The matriarch once said to him,
04:47You are the only heir.
04:48You must marry a noble woman to continue the bloodline.
04:52That was the only condition for me to inherit the clan leadership.
04:54But his mistress was low-born, ineligible.
04:58He needed a proper wife.
04:59If she gave him a son first, better.
05:01Either way, he didn't lose.
05:03I set down my wedding bouquet.
05:04Two familiar figures had appeared at the side of the road.
05:07Father!
05:07The boy lunged toward Adrian's horse.
05:09The word was barely out before a beautiful woman yanked him back and smothered his mouth with her hand.
05:14Forgive us everyone.
05:15My son misses his father.
05:17He got confused.
05:18He didn't mean anything by it.
05:20Adrian pulled his reins top.
05:22He exhaled once.
05:23Today is my wedding.
05:25Can't you keep your child in hand?
05:26If he'd startled the horse carriage, I'd have had all your heads.
05:30Get them out of here.
05:31The woman's face went white.
05:32She bit her lip and stepped back.
05:34I'm so sorry.
05:36We're leaving.
05:37I wasn't about to let this dissolve quietly.
05:39Husband, don't be so hard on them.
05:42The child didn't mean any harm.
05:44And today is a happy occasion.
05:46Why not do a good deed?
05:47I actually need another servant woman as my side.
05:50If she's willing, she could come along with us.
05:53This woman had one obsession.
05:54Becoming Mrs. Ashford.
05:56Now that Adrian had taken a wife, she was already fraying at the edges.
05:59One of my people needed barely three sentences to maneuver her into showing up here today.
06:04If I offered her a door to the estate, she'd walk through it without thinking.
06:08She hesitated for half a breath, then looked away from Adrian's sharp, warning stare.
06:12Thank you, ma'am.
06:13The carriage rolled on.
06:14She followed behind, boy in hand.
06:16The crowd murmured approvingly along the route.
06:19The new Mrs. Ashford is something else.
06:22Even after that scene, she finds them a position.
06:25Must run in the family.
06:26The Ashfords are good people.
06:28After the ceremony, I sat at my vanity and began fixing my hair.
06:32Ivy dismissed the others and shut the door, her face barely holding its composure.
06:36Ma'am.
06:37The master just had a servant quietly move that woman and boy into the side courtyard.
06:42I wasn't surprised.
06:43Ma'am.
06:44The Hawk Clan has rules against taking a second wife.
06:47And he's doing this on your wedding night.
06:49We could expose him right now.
06:51Go back to your family.
06:52End this before it starts.
06:53Calm down.
06:54I didn't come here to lose to a kept woman.
06:56I had no family worth running back to.
06:59No mother, no father who would take my side against the Ashfords.
07:02I'd walk through that gate as a piece on someone else's board.
07:06If I walked back out, I'd be spit on from every direction.
07:09I hadn't come all this way for nothing.
07:11What I wanted was the Ashford estate itself.
07:15Adrian could rot on the inside.
07:17I didn't need him to be good.
07:18I needed him to give me an heir.
07:20A knock at the door.
07:22I smiled at Ivy.
07:23My leverage just arrived.
07:25Adrian was drunk, but gracefully so.
07:28His steps wandered a little.
07:29It did nothing to make him less attractive.
07:31Ivy moved to steady him.
07:33He shrugged her off.
07:33I only want my wife.
07:34I swallowed the contempt rising in my chest and sent Ivy out.
07:38He played the part of a restrained gentleman, even when he was half gone.
07:43I had to admire the consistency.
07:45I took his arm.
07:46You've had too much.
07:47Should I have the kitchen send sobering soup?
07:49The kitchen sat close to the side courtyard.
07:52At this hour, they'd probably be preparing food for his little family.
07:56Adrian's shoulders went rigid.
07:57Then his hand caught mine.
07:59He buried his face against my shoulder.
08:01No.
08:03This is our wedding night.
08:04Don't leave.
08:05He let out a slow breath and lifted me.
08:07I looped my arms around his neck.
08:09In my past life, Adrian had used drunkenness as an excuse to avoid Victoria's wedding bed entirely.
08:15She'd had to fight for three months before he relented.
08:18And only after she humiliated herself.
08:21I was too exhausted to move a finger.
08:23I passed out where I lay.
08:25He was the one who cleaned me up afterward.
08:27We were late for the morning tea ceremony.
08:29The matriarch was good-natured about it.
08:31She directed her mild scolding at Adrian, who was leaning back in his chair looking thoroughly satisfied.
08:35In a generous mood for once, he cut her off to defend me before she could finish.
08:39That we had a boat you missed me.
08:42My fault entirely.
08:44I kept her up and told the staff not to wake her.
08:46Don't blame her, mother.
08:48My face burned.
08:49The matriarch laughed.
08:50She took the tea I offered with both hands.
08:52I knew I liked you the moment I saw you.
08:53I was half afraid they'd send that other girl.
08:56Luckily, she made a fool of herself so we could have the better bargain.
08:59You're the lady of this house now.
09:01These belong to you.
09:02There's no rush and nothing to be afraid of.
09:04If you need guidance, come to me.
09:06I kept my hands steady as I accepted them.
09:08With those keys, no one in this estate could question my standing.
09:12No one could use my birth against me.
09:14In my past life, as a wife in the serpent clan, I'd had to claw my way through sisters-in
09:18-law,
09:19who outranked me by blood and never let me forget it.
09:22It had taken months of careful maneuvering just to find my footing.
09:26That was behind me now.
09:27The matriarch saw my expression shift.
09:29She sighed softly and took the necklace off her own neck, placing it onto mine.
09:33This child has suffered enough.
09:35You treat her well from here on.
09:37I mean it.
09:38Adrian blinked.
09:39He looked at my slightly reddened eyes and almost without meaning to, nodded.
09:42On the way back from the matriarch's rooms, I walked half a step behind Adrian,
09:45already thinking through which accounts to look at first.
09:47He spoke without turning around.
09:49What do you plan to do about that woman and the boy?
09:50And tucked my hand into the crook of his arm.
09:53I didn't realize you were so concerned about them.
09:55Isn't that sweet of you?
09:56He avoided my eyes.
09:57I just feel sorry for them.
09:58A widow with a child.
10:00Perhaps they could work in the outer courtyard, do some light tasks.
10:03The outer courtyard was full of staff.
10:05No one would track a woman's particular history there.
10:07Adrian would find ways to meet with her in private, use the crowd as cover.
10:09I exhaled slowly, as if thinking it through.
10:12A pretty woman with a child, alone people might take advantage.
10:15You really haven't thought this through, have you?
10:17What if we put them somewhere quieter?
10:19Near the garden behind the study.
10:21Adrian's brow tightened, almost imperceptibly.
10:23A long pause.
10:24Then his face settled into something soft.
10:26Good thinking.
10:27There's a small room off the study anyway.
10:29They can stay there.
10:29How thoughtful of you.
10:31I smiled.
10:31My nails were nearly through my palm.
10:33The study.
10:34He'd have every excuse to be near her.
10:36And the boy.
10:36He'd be able to teach him in private.
10:38Pass him what he needed to awaken properly.
10:40Adrian didn't notice.
10:41The careful coldness he usually wore had softened around the edges.
10:44In a few years, when our child comes, I'll make sure they have the best of everything.
10:47I leaned against him.
10:49The passing maids whispered to each other.
10:50The master and mistress.
10:52So in love.
10:53Rosalind heard it too.
10:54That same night, she went to find Adrian, and he turned her away at the door.
10:58Three nights in a row, he came to my room instead.
11:00He was decent enough to read the room.
11:02He didn't push past what I could manage.
11:09The day we returned to visit my family home, Victoria didn't arrive until almost noon.
11:13She swept into the room, glowing.
11:15Cheeks high with color, trailing a thick cloud of powder and perfume.
11:18Lady Hargrove stared at her for a long moment.
11:21Don't fuss, mother.
11:22My husband spoils me.
11:23Very restorative herbs.
11:24She straightened, and I noticed that her figure had changed.
11:28Filled out in a way that read less like health and more like something under strain.
11:32She looked at me.
11:33Your husband runs cold, I hear.
11:35If he's distant with you, that's just how it goes.
11:38Don't take it personally.
11:39I said nothing.
11:40I took my time looking at her.
11:41She seemed bright on the surface, but her steps were unsteady.
11:44She kept touching her lower back without realizing it.
11:46That kind of bloom didn't come from nourishment.
11:47It came from something taking more than it was difficult.
11:49The serpent was greedy.
11:50When she noticed I wasn't reacting, something dark moved through her.
11:53She reached for me the way she used to when we were younger.
11:56To grab and drag.
11:57Adrian walked in.
11:58There was a smile in his eyes as he spoke to me gently.
12:00Alara, I just came from the room you used to live in.
12:06Victoria's hand froze in midair.
12:07She stared at Adrian in shock.
12:09Stunned by how different he was from the man in our previous life.
12:15How is this possible?
12:17Lady Hargrove's expression folded.
12:18They both knew.
12:19The room I'd been given in this house was barely a storeroom.
12:22The dishes had chips in them.
12:23Lady Hargrove laughed awkwardly and cut him off.
12:26Now that everyone's here, why don't we sit down for lunch?
12:28She looked at me.
12:29It was almost a plea.
12:30Once, when my birth mother had a bad fever and I'd gone to beg for a doctor,
12:34I'd knelt in the courtyard in the snow.
12:35The snow piled up on my shoulders while Lady Hargrove and Victoria stayed warm inside,
12:40laughing at something I couldn't hear.
12:41She finally came out when I nearly passed out.
12:44Get the doctor.
12:45Don't let her die in my yard.
12:46It's bad luck.
12:47The doctor came.
12:48He kept my mother alive a little longer.
12:49I held her hand and sobbed until I couldn't breathe anymore.
12:52Keep going.
12:54No matter how hard it gets, don't give up.
12:58I never got to go back to her.
12:59By the time I was reborn, she was already gone.
13:01I smoothed the front of my dress and stood up.
13:04Husband, let's eat.
13:05The table, Victoria and the serpent fed each other and giggled like they were alone in the room.
13:09She shot me looks every few minutes, daring me to react.
13:12Lady Hargrove could see something was wrong.
13:13She kept trying to quietly reel Victoria in.
13:15Victoria snapped back, loud enough for the table to hear.
13:20My husband loves me.
13:22Am I supposed to be ashamed of that?
13:24Should I live like I'm already a widow?
13:27The moment the meal was over, she dragged him out the door.
13:30Adrian and I didn't linger long after that.
13:32When we got back to the main hall of the Ashford estate, I found Rosalyn crouched beside the matriarch,
13:37kneading her shoulders with practiced hands.
13:39The matriarch had her eyes half closed, looking more comfortable than I'd seen her in days.
13:46Rosalyn, you have such skilled hands.
13:52Come do this for me often.
13:57I didn't realize she'd caught your eye.
14:00She came in with us on the wedding day.
14:03Quite a hard life raising a child alone.
14:05I've tried to look out for her.
14:07I know what kind of heart you have.
14:10The Ashfords are lucky to have you.
14:12Rosalyn stepped back, her teeth pressed into her lip.
14:16The matriarch and I moved naturally into conversation about the estate, the accounts,
14:21a few household matters that needed settling.
14:23When something important came up, the matriarch waved Rosalyn out of the room,
14:27without thinking about it.
14:28I watched the hatred pool behind Rosalyn's eyes as she left.
14:33Over the days that followed, Rosalyn pushed hard for the matriarch's favor,
14:36massaged every ache, laughed at every small joke.
14:40It worked.
14:40The matriarch grew genuinely fond of her and started giving her gifts.
14:44Master Adrian says be careful.
14:45Don't draw attention.
14:46He was so frustrated, he stopped seeing her altogether and started conducting estate
14:51business from my room instead.
14:54I was deep into the Ashford accounts.
14:56Shops, properties, land deeds, the full picture of what this family actually owned.
15:02It was substantial and deliberately tangled.
15:05Once I understood it, I called in the shop managers.
15:07They came in uncertain, squinting.
15:10Then they read the room, new wife, asserting herself.
15:13A few of them visibly relaxed into condescension.
15:15I let them sit with that for a moment.
15:17I finished my tea.
15:19The matriarch has placed all Ashfield business in my hands.
15:22I'm not gonna waste her trust.
15:25I've been reviewing the last three months of records.
15:28I've already noted the discrepancies.
15:30I set down my cup.
15:31Ivy laid the ledgers open.
15:33A small personal notebook slipped out, filled with my annotations.
15:36Some of the managers exchanged glances.
15:39The ones with nothing to hide sat straight.
15:41The ones who didn't went pale.
15:43I looked at Ivy.
15:44She picked up the notebook and dropped it into the fire.
15:48New management.
15:50Old accounts are closed.
15:52But I have no tolerance for what comes next.
15:55I trust everyone understands that.
15:58Yes, ma'am.
15:59The estate's internal structure wasn't enough.
16:02Real power in the hot clan ran through these shops.
16:05These trade networks.
16:06The money that had kept the family elevated for generations.
16:10They needed the root.
16:12I came home late, satisfied.
16:14In the courtyard, I stopped.
16:16Roslyn was crouched beside her boy, face lit with joy.
16:19Adrian stood nearby, watching them with a small smile.
16:22I moved before I'd finished thinking.
16:24I walked over and took Adrian's hand.
16:29What's happened?
16:32The boy.
16:33His abilities came in.
16:34A smile dropped off my face.
16:36In my past life, this had happened three years later, right before they entered the estate.
16:41Not now.
16:41Not this early.
16:42Aren't you something.
16:44Abilities at your age.
16:46Giving your mother so much to be proud of.
16:49You'd better take good care of her when you grow up.
16:52You're the bad woman who stole my dad.
16:56I'm so sorry, ma'am.
16:59I've spoiled him terribly.
17:01He doesn't know what he's saying.
17:02He really is spoiled.
17:04Speaking to his beauties this way is a serious breach.
17:07Per estate rules, he kneels in the courtyard for two hours.
17:10Roslyn's color drained.
17:11She looked instinctively at Adrian.
17:14Adrian's brow pulled together.
17:15He's only a child.
17:16This is excessive.
17:17Let it go.
17:18If a child has no father to correct him, the mother answers for it.
17:23Or have I lost even that much authority in my own home?
17:26Is a servant woman more important to you than your wife?
17:29He closed his mouth.
17:30Roslyn grabbed my sleeve.
17:32Her face was wet.
17:34I don't matter.
17:35But I'm due at the matriarch's.
17:37And if I'm late, she'll be displeased.
17:39I laughed once.
17:40Short and cold.
17:42And had a chair brought out to the courtyard.
17:44How bold.
17:45A woman brought in off the street is lecturing me in my own house.
17:48Someone go ask the matriarch if she'd to weigh in on a servant who just spoke down to the estate's
17:52mistress.
17:53You're going too far.
17:54The boy didn't mean anything.
17:56Roslyn stood just behind his shoulder.
17:58She reached out and curled her fingers gently around his sleeve.
18:01The three of them, together in the moonlight.
18:03They looked like a family portrait.
18:05Adrian was trembling with anger.
18:06He grabbed Roslyn and the boy and started to walk them away.
18:09Ivy was faster.
18:10The matriarch says he kneels.
18:12Three hours.
18:13And cut off their meals and moved them to the servant's storage room for the night.
18:15I looked at Adrian.
18:18Well, I left before he could answer.
18:20Adrian wouldn't defy the matriarch.
18:22The clan leadership still hadn't been formally transferred.
18:25And the matriarch said little, but punished any disobedience.
18:28Even Adrian knew better than to cross her.
18:30That was why I had spent every effort from the beginning, making the matriarch love me.
18:35That night, Adrian didn't come to my room.
18:37He sent a servant boy with a message.
18:39He'd be sleeping in the study.
18:41Ivy didn't take it well.
18:43The study.
18:44Right.
18:44She paced the length of the room, voice rising.
18:47Before the wedding, I actually thought you'd finally caught a break, miss.
18:50A decent man for once.
18:52Turns out he's just another wolf in silk.
18:54She caught herself.
18:55A hawk.
18:56Whatever.
18:56Same thing.
18:57I sat at the desk.
18:58Ledger open in front of me.
18:59Perfectly calm.
19:00Adrian was a predator.
19:02Fine.
19:03Then I'd be the still water he didn't notice until he was already drowning in it.
19:08By the following morning, it was everywhere.
19:11Adrian Ashford kept a mistress.
19:13The boy was seven years old.
19:15No one knew where the information came from.
19:17But the woman's name, her background, her address, the boy's face and description
19:22had all surfaced with the kind of precision that suggested someone very organized had done the releasing.
19:28Adrian's years of carefully maintained reputation collapsed in a single day.
19:33Within the hawk clan, doors that had been opened quietly shut.
19:36Victoria sent a letter.
19:37It said I'd be divorced within the year.
19:40And when I was out on the street, I shouldn't come crawling to her.
19:43I set it down on the corner of the desk.
19:47Ivy mentioned, almost as an aside, that Victoria had been passing out in bed.
19:52That several doctors had told the serpent in plain terms that they needed to stop.
19:57That neither of them had listened.
20:00Victoria was swallowing expensive tonics by the handful just to keep upright.
20:05While the serpent was looking sharper and more energetic every week.
20:11His abilities growing stronger.
20:13I'd figured this out in my past life.
20:16Stumbled onto it late.
20:17The serpent clan could only train and advance if the physical appetite was fed.
20:22Without that release, their cultivation stalled.
20:26With it, they drained whoever was closest to them.
20:29In that life, when I finally understood, I'd spent a sleepless night deciding what to do.
20:35And then I'd done the only thing that made sense.
20:39I found a doctor.
20:40Confirmed it wouldn't block his ability to train.
20:43And introduced something into a gift from one of my sisters-in-law.
20:47A substance that made him permanently unable to function that way.
20:52He found out.
20:53Eventually.
20:54I cried until I couldn't breathe.
20:56And told him that sister-in-law had been plotting against him for months.
21:00That she'd wanted to destroy him.
21:03That I'd only just discovered it myself.
21:06He checked.
21:07Everything I said was true.
21:09Because I had made sure it would be true.
21:12After that, he dismissed the kept women.
21:15Stopped visiting other beds.
21:17And trained with a focus he hadn't had before.
21:20He treated me like something worth keeping.
21:23Victoria didn't have that knowledge.
21:25She'd decided the serpent was simply devoted to her.
21:28And she'd locked herself inside that story.
21:31I wondered how much longer her body could hold.
21:34Adrian's voice came through the door.
21:36Strained and ur-
21:42Totally.
22:10That, in progressive media often.
22:42My voice came out barely above a whisper.
22:44But I'm carrying his child.
22:46Are you asking me to leave with a baby?
22:49Both of them went completely still.
22:52Adrian stared at my hand against my stomach.
22:55The color left his face.
22:57I'm sorry.
22:58His voice cracked.
22:59I'm so sorry.
23:01The matriarch needed a breath to decide.
23:05Get that woman and her boy off this property immediately.
23:08The Ashfirm family has one mistress of this house.
23:12And the child she's carrying is the only heir I'll recognize.
23:15I turned my face into the matriarch's shoulder and let myself cry.
23:20I thought you didn't want me anymore.
23:22None of it touched me inside.
23:25This was what had needed to happen.
23:28Adrian had just lost any path to the clan leadership through that boy.
23:32Without the matriarch's recognition, Rosalyn and her son were nothing.
23:37All the groundwork I'd laid had just closed around them like a door.
23:42In the corner where no one was looking, something in me smiled.
23:47Rosalyn and the boy stood at the estate gate for half the day.
23:51She screamed every promise Adrian had made.
23:54The people passing stopped and listened with wide eyes.
23:58The last of Adrian's golden reputation crumbled in real time.
24:03The story that came out of it, somehow, was that the new Mrs. Ashford had handled everything with grace.
24:10Victoria had come by to watch.
24:12She was there at the gate when it happened.
24:15She drifted into the main hall afterward, looking like she'd forgotten how to arrange her face.
24:20I was eating the pastries Adrian had walked three streets to find for me.
24:26What brings you all the way here in person?
24:29She was tired.
24:30The brightness she'd walked in with last time was gone.
24:34Her smile, when she tried it, didn't work properly.
24:39How did you do it?
24:40I smiled and touched my stomach.
24:43When you have something better, why would you settle?
24:47She understood immediately.
24:50Her eyes dropped to my hand.
24:52She went very still.
24:54Then the stillness broke.
24:55And what came out was pure envy.
24:59You're just lucky.
25:00Everything always falls into place for you.
25:03The smile left my face.
25:04I set down my tea.
25:06Lucky.
25:07My birth mother died in front of me.
25:09I spent years in this house as furniture.
25:13Useful only when needed and invisible the rest of the time.
25:16Every gain I'd made in my past life, and this one, had been mapped out, move by move, late
25:23at night, alone.
25:25Lucky wasn't the word.
25:28I hear things haven't been going so well for you.
25:31You look thin.
25:32She shot to her feet.
25:34I'm perfectly fine.
25:36My husband comes only to my room.
25:38He dismissed all the others.
25:39I run my own household.
25:41No one dares touch me.
25:42I let myself laugh.
25:44She heard it for what it was, and it hit her somewhere deep, because she spun around and
25:50walked out without another word.
25:52The serpent had dismissed those women because he was afraid of being found out, not because
25:58he felt anything.
25:59His visits to her room were maintenance, nothing more.
26:03The more she gave, the more he took.
26:06Her body was already paying the bill.
26:10In the end, she'd believed what she'd wanted to believe.
26:13I didn't know how much longer she had.
26:16The pregnancy was easier than I'd expected.
26:19The baby was cooperative, which gave me room to keep running the shops and managing the
26:23estate.
26:24Adrian hovered constantly, asking after every small discomfort, following me from room to
26:29room.
26:30I found it exhausting and started leaving the estate to get away from him.
26:33It was on one of those outings that I heard Victoria had miscarried.
26:37I didn't know she'd been pregnant.
26:49I tried the current daughter neighborhood.
26:54I didn't know she'd been pregnant.
26:55I didn't know she would because the mother had fixed her work.
26:59porque a woman is too bright as she had been pregnant with her husband.
27:00.acja. Whitney
27:00ask her to give her. You're
27:06trying to find other people. I wish
27:09I was able to get in two of those outings that she'd been more welcome. She'd
27:10got her and she
27:10wondering if it was a match her a daughter. Janshivi
27:35and then something changed in my body I grabbed Ivy's wrist the doctor had said
27:42she wasn't far enough along there shouldn't have been a reaction this
27:45sudden this strong I stopped thinking about Victoria and let Ivy steer me out
27:50the Ashford midwife was already prepared the doctor arrived within minutes of
27:55being called outside the delivery room I could hear the matriarch and Adrian
27:58talking in short urgent sentences I was soaked through Ivy's hand almost breaking
28:05in mine if something goes wrong save me if I didn't survive this Adrian would
28:10bring Rosalind's boy back and whatever happened to my child without me here to
28:15stand between them I didn't want to imagine I had to stay the pain came in
28:19waves and then in walls then a cry split the room and I went under completely
28:25when I opened my eyes there was a small warm weight on the bed beside me Ivy was
28:30kneeling smiling so wide it looked like it hurt congratulations ma'am it's a girl
28:36I stared at her for a long time then I reached out very carefully and poked her
28:42cheek with one finger she woke up she didn't cry she just looked at me and
28:46smiled something in my chest came loose I closed my hand around her tiny fingers
28:52from today she was the Ashford heir and I was going to make sure she lived her
28:57life on her own terms not mine not anyone else's Adrian was happy about the baby
29:03and also a little lost the way men get when reality lands differently than they'd
29:08planned he circled around the subject for weeks before finally floating the idea
29:12of trying again in a few years a son he meant to carry the Ashford name I told
29:18him no without softening it the matriarch promised me if you'd like to revisit
29:23that conversation go talk to her he didn't he went back to making faces at
29:27our daughter instead after my recovery I finally turned my attention to why the
29:31birth had come early the doctor could only tell me that something sharp and
29:34chemical had triggered it he couldn't identify the specific substance I
29:38thought about Victoria's room the smell that had sat in the back of my throat
29:41Ivy came back from asking questions with her face flushed red
29:45mom Rosaline has been meeting with Miss Victoria the place she's been living
29:50since she left here and Miss Victoria arranged it two women with nothing to
29:54lose and the same target if I'd lost the baby Rosalind's boy would have been the
29:58only option left she'd have been back through the gate within the week but I'd
30:02learned every corner of this estate before the baby came the staff here were
30:05mine in the way that mattered they were careful attentive loyal enough when
30:09loyalty was earned nothing had reached me that shouldn't have has Adrian had any
30:12contact with them since they left once right after they were removed he went to
30:17see them they had a fight he hasn't been back he's cut the boy off too good I
30:21exhaled he's finally reading the room and my half-sister lately Ivy's voice took on a
30:27certain quality she's determined I'll give her that her body is in the state it's in and
30:31she's still having people in still calling doctors trying to keep going I sighed she was
30:35stubborn to the point of self-destruction she always had been life in the Ashford
30:39estate settled into something close to peace the baby's name was Sarah the
30:43matriarch chose it herself and she announced formally in front of the clan that
30:47Sarah Ashford would be the next family head some members objected Lord Ashford
30:51senior shut them down in four sentences and didn't look up from his tea Adrian
30:55sulked quietly about it for a while then adjusted he spent his mornings making
30:59Sarah laugh and telling her she'd better remember who her father was when she was
31:03running things it might have stayed that way indefinitely then one of my shop
31:07managers came in with a report he could barely get through it without going red in
31:12the face Victoria had purchased something from one of our suppliers a
31:16particular kind of compound when I pressed for details the man turned the
31:21color of a peony and started examining the floor I understood Victoria was pregnant
31:26again she announced it with a dinner party the invitation arrived on my desk
31:30Ivy told me not to go why wouldn't I running away was never my style the party
31:36drew the wives of every major shifter clan they found me within minutes of
31:41arriving and pulled me into a circle of warm elaborate compliments Victoria's face
31:46went through several difficult stages before she managed to control it she
31:51breathed in breathed out and crossed the room to me the smile I gave her was
31:55direct and had teeth look at you jealous her composure buckled she turned and
32:02walked away in fast rigid steps I finished my drink my eyes drifted to the
32:07maid standing just behind her I smiled to myself said something low to Ivy's and
32:12watched her slip away through the crowd later a group of us walked out to the
32:16back garden we heard it before we saw it there half hidden behind a stone wall the
32:21serpent was pressed against a serving girl unhurried as if he'd forgotten or
32:26didn't care that there were guests 20 feet away when we got close enough he
32:31still didn't stop one of the wives sucked in a sharp breath isn't that the woman who
32:35was thrown out of the Ashford Palace every head turned toward me someone
32:39clicked her tongue honestly and that boy who even knows Victoria came through the
32:44garden gate with her attendants reached the two of them and wrenched them apart with
32:49shaking hands how dare you she hit him he looked at her the way you look at
32:54something mildly inconvenient the smear of lip color still on his jaw you can't
32:58keep up I'm not gonna starve because of that don't make a scene he shoved her
33:03back not gently then curved a protective arm around Rosalyn as they retreated
33:07through the gate Victoria hit the ground red bloomed beneath her she stopped
33:12being a person for a moment she curled into herself and started murmuring over
33:16and over even again why is it always like this she tried to crawl toward me
33:24hands reaching Adrian came through the gate behind her and kicked her back
33:28before she could reach me not carefully the gathered wives had lost their
33:31appetite for the evening they called for their maids and started for the
33:35carriages after that I never saw Victoria again word came in pieces over the
33:40following weeks she'd lost herself completely she paced the serpent clan
33:44estate muttering about second chances and how it wasn't fair and she deserved
33:49another turn she was kept inside lady Hargrove was no longer permitted to visit
33:54the serpent had grown bored of Rosalyn too and filled the estate with new kept
33:58women the pattern reset I went home to my daughter and my ledgers the days became
34:03quiet and full in equal measure Sarah turned one then two Adrian found reasons to
34:08stay close not out of obligation anymore but out of something that had slowly
34:12grown into genuine need he brought me things without being asked he stopped
34:17making excuses to avoid being in the same room he understood the situation I think
34:22he knew what he could lose if he overplayed his hand so he didn't he showed up
34:26and kept showing up and over time the effort became habit and habit became
34:30something softer he taught Sarah everything he knew every technique every hot
34:35clan form every shortcut he'd learned over years of training she was three when
34:40her abilities came in I was sitting in the courtyard when it happened late
34:44afternoon the light going gold Adrian came running out of the practice yard
34:48with Sarah on his shoulders both of them shouting at once I watched them from my
34:52chair hands folded in my lap this life was not without its damage my birth
34:57mother was still gone the years of careful invisible work I'd done to arrive
35:01here would never be visible to anyone but me but I was here Sarah was here the
35:07estate was mine in every way that mattered I laughed softly to myself in the
35:11afternoon light this life I thought was not worse than the one before it was
35:15better
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