Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 78: Life Lesson

"Why should I believe in you when all evidence points at you?" The words that came out of his mouth shattered whatever hope she’d held onto.

"The first life lesson you should keep in mind is to never trust anyone blindly, not even those that look innocent," he suddenly added.

It took Anne a few minutes to realize the hidden meaning in his words.

Did he believe she didn’t take the ring but couldn’t trust her because there was evidence pointing at her?

He took a step to close the distance between them. This close, his dark eyes were clear—no signs of rage lurking within them, no sign of displeasure, just something light that gazed down at her.

"People will push you down, get you in trouble, but no one will get you out of it but yourself." His words were low, for only her to hear.

So he knew she didn’t take the ring. He believed her.

"So, how are you going to get yourself out of this? How are you going to prove yourself innocent? Keep in mind that if you don’t prove yourself clean, in everyone’s eyes you’re the thief."

Anne looked deep into the man’s eyes, understanding slowly dawning on her.

She realized he’d spoken the truth. Inevitably, whether we liked it or not, there will be people who want to push us in trouble. Finding out the motives of their actions was just one step, but it wouldn’t get that person to stop—what would, however, was fighting back.

She had no idea who this maid was or why she wanted to get her in trouble, but if she just let herself get mistreated, then she would continue to remain a victim who would be toyed with by others.

She’d always been a victim, from the time she’d quietly accepted abuse from her cousins till this moment. Crying never once solved anything for her, nor did constantly playing things safe.

In this world, only she could defend herself from anyone who thought to cause her trouble.

Anne’s eyes turned sharp as her gaze landed on the haughty-looking maid who’d been accusing her. She could see in the girl’s eyes the confidence that seemed to be born from the belief that she’d won.

Approaching the maid steadily, Anne didn’t break her gaze. She raised her hand and delivered a harsh slap.

Pa!

The impact caused a sound that echoed in the vast space.

Sasha’s head swung to the side forcefully, her eyes widening in disbelief.

She raised a furious gaze to Anne, speaking with a quivering voice.

"You hit me?"

"I did. Why shouldn’t I when you accused me wrongly of something I didn’t do? That was just to serve a lesson to you. For whatever reason you decided to aim at me, I won’t let you pin something I didn’t do on me." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"You... Who do you think you are? You’re just a disgusting thief!" Sasha’s eyes burned fiercely as she looked to Andrew. "Master, this woman stole your ring. She deserves to be beaten up and thrown in jail!" Sasha’s body shook with anger with each word she spoke.

She wanted to raise her hand and hit Anne back the same way, but she had to control herself. This woman would soon be punished so severely by Master Andrew she would regret being born into this world. Why should she bother when the master would ruin her completely for having touched his precious ring?

"I didn’t steal the ring—you did," Anne said with unmistakable certainty.

No ripple appeared in Sasha’s eyes, despite the fact that she knew what Anne said was the truth. She had indeed taken the ring, but no one would know because she put it in Anne’s bag.

With a sneer on her face, Sasha retorted, "Are you crazy? The ring was found in your bag."

Anne, however, didn’t back down.

"You were in the room at eight forty in the night, hardly a time to be cleaning if you ask me. Plus, you were wiping a sparkly clean table when I entered the room. That sounds suspicious, doesn’t it?"

A slight ripple showed on Sasha’s face, but thinking about the fact that Anne couldn’t prove anything even if she had smartly noticed some details, Sasha regained her confidence.

"So what are you trying to insinuate? Yes, I was cleaning the room at a late time, but that’s only because I take my job seriously. Everyone among the staff knows how Master Andrew hates seeing even a speck of dust in his surroundings. I went to clean considering his likes and dislikes. That is something a good employee should do."

Sasha’s words reflected her absolute dedication to her work, making all the other maids find her words plausible despite the fact that it was unusual she would go into Andrew’s room to clean without being asked to.

Go ahead and try to defend yourself, Sasha thought. You can’t prove anything. My mistress will be very pleased once I’m done with you tonight.

Sasha might be working at the Sterling estate, but it was for a special motive. Her mission was clear to her from day one.

Master Andrew.

He was her entire focus.

In this world, apart from Old Master Sterling, she was probably the only other person that knew everything about Master Andrew—her and her Mistress.

She’d watched him closely. Master Andrew was the main prize her Mistress aimed to conquer.

And throughout the years Sasha had been at the estate, she had never once seen him let any woman enter his room. Not even once. But tonight she’d seen him grab this woman who’d initially been speaking to Master Gabriel. The look on Andrew’s face at that time had been frightening as he took her into his room and shut the door.

Sasha didn’t know why—she felt like this woman would be different from any other to Master Andrew, so she had quickly contacted her Mistress and told her about it. That was when they’d devised this quick plan.

If any woman threatened to make her way into Master Andrew’s life, it was Sasha’s job to toss her right out of it.

The confident smirk on her face rose further, the provocative look in her eyes towards Anne intensified.

In this room, they were the only two who knew that Anne didn’t take the ring—and Anne had no way of proving it—so Sasha provoked her with her gaze.

However, what surprised her was the fact that Anne didn’t look as scared as she expected her to be. In fact, she looked confident. That made Sasha wonder what she was thinking.

"Will you accept any punishment I give to you if I prove in the next ten minutes that you took the ring and not me?"

Anne asked, causing Sasha’s eyes to narrow.