Reborn To Change My Fate-Chapter 245 - Two Hundred And Forty Four

Ashlyn stood with her back against the wall, her chest heaving. Her jewelry box was empty. Her floor was bare. Her dignity was in shreds.

But she still had one card left to play. The trump card.

Ashlyn spoke, her voice trembling but filled with a desperate defiance.

"Stop threatening me," Ashlyn said. She raised her chin, trying to look down at Marissa, though she felt very small.

She moved her hands. She placed both palms protectively over her stomach, cradling the flat curve of her belly.

"I am carrying the Thompson family child,"

Ashlyn declared. Her voice rose, gaining strength from the lie she had turned into a truth. "I am the mother of the second great grandson. What can you do? You cannot hurt me. You cannot touch me. The Dowager will protect me. If you stress me, if I faint... the blame will be on you."

She looked at Marissa with a challenge in her eyes. Dare to cross this line, she thought. Dare to hurt the great-grandchild.

Marissa smiled again. It was not a warm smile. It was a cold, pitying smile that chilled Ashlyn to the bone.

Marissa didn’t back down. She didn’t look afraid. She walked closer to Ashlyn, invading her personal space until they were toe to toe. She smelled of cool night air and authority.

"Sister," Marissa whispered, her voice soft like a caress but sharp like a blade. "Don’t think pregnancy is a shield."

Marissa reached out. Her hand hovered over Ashlyn’s stomach—the stomach that refused to grow, the stomach that Ashlyn guarded like a fortress.

Marissa touched it.

It was a light touch, just a brush of her fingertips against the fine wool of Ashlyn’s dress. But to Ashlyn, it felt like a brand. She flinched, sucking in her breath, her muscles tensing.

"If Grandmother’s heart chills," Marissa said softly, her eyes locked on Ashlyn’s, "I wonder how she would punish you."

Marissa leaned in, her voice dropping to a terrifying whisper.

"Pregnant or not," Marissa said. "A thief is a thief. A liar is a liar. Do you think the dowager will let a criminal raise her great-grandchild? Do you think she will let a woman who steals from the family coffers hold the future of the family?"

Marissa tilted her head.

"Or do you think," Marissa mused, "that she will lock you away? Keep you in a room until the baby is born, and then cast you out into the snow?"

Ashlyn felt fear. It was cold and sharp, piercing through her defiance. She remembered the scene in the foyer. She remembered the guards dragging Carlos away. She remembered Beatrice’s face—stone cold, devoid of mercy.

"She would do it," Ashlyn thought, terror gripping her heart. "She banished her own grandson. She would lock me up without a second thought."

Her mind began to race, spinning in circles.

"Why is it different from my last life?" Ashlyn thought frantically.

She looked at Marissa’s calm, beautiful face. In her past life, Marissa had been passive. She had been a victim. She had wept when things went wrong.

"In my last life, I got away with everything," Ashlyn remembered. "I stole. I lied. I manipulated. No one checked the books. No one followed the servants. Why is Marissa so different this time?"

She looked at Mrs. Alma, who stood by the door, holding the lantern.

"Why did she investigate the silk supply?" Ashlyn wondered, her thoughts becoming a panic-stricken blur. "How did she know where to look? How did she know to follow Mr. Holt? What is she planning? Is she a seer? Or is she just smarter than me?"

The thought terrified her. If Marissa was just smarter, then Ashlyn had no advantage. Her knowledge of the future was useless if Marissa changed the present.

Lily’s voice cut through the tense atmosphere, breaking Ashlyn’s internal spiral. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Lily walked over to Mrs. Alma. She held open the large velvet sack she had been filling. Inside, a pile of jewelry and coins glittered in the lantern light. Gold chains, silver rings, pearl earrings—it was a small fortune, gathered from the floor and Ashlyn’s dowry box.

"Mrs. Alma," Lily asked, her voice professional and crisp. "Are these enough to cover the theft? The difference in the silk price was substantial."

Mrs. Alma adjusted her spectacles on her nose. She peered into the bag. She reached in and stirred the items with her finger, calculating the value. She picked up a heavy gold necklace, weighing it in her hand. She put it back.

She shook her head slowly.

"It is still short," Mrs. Alma announced. Her voice was final. "By about a thousand silvers. The interest on the embezzled funds is high, and the gold here is mostly hollow. It is not enough."

Marissa clicked her tongue in false pity.

"Tsk, tsk," Marissa said. "That won’t do."

She turned her attention back to Ashlyn. She looked her up and down, her eyes assessing, calculating, stripping Ashlyn bare.

Ashlyn was still well dressed. She was wearing her dark blue wool gown, but she had adorned herself for her "trip" to her mother’s house. She wanted to look wealthy when she arrived. She wore diamond earrings that sparkled in the gloom. She wore a sapphire necklace. Several heavy rings adorned her fingers.

"Are there anything valuable on you?" Marissa asked.

It wasn’t really a question.

Marissa began to circle Ashlyn slowly, like a shark circling a swimmer in deep water.

"This earring," Marissa said.

She reached out and touched Ashlyn’s earlobe. Her fingers were cold against the warm skin.

"Diamonds," Marissa noted. "Very nice. Clear stones. Worth fifty silvers at least."

Ashlyn flinched away, covering her ear with her hand. "Stop it."

Marissa ignored her. She moved to the front.

"This necklace," Marissa continued. She reached out and touched the sapphire pendant at Ashlyn’s throat. She lifted it, feeling the weight. "A family heirloom? No, it looks new. Bought with stolen money, perhaps? Or maybe leftover from the usury funds?"

Ashlyn grabbed the necklace protectively, clutching it to her chest. "Get away from me!"

Marissa stepped closer. She grabbed the sleeve of Ashlyn’s dress.

"This dress looks expensive too," Marissa noted.

She fumbled with the texture of the sleeve, rubbing the fine wool between her thumb and forefinger.

"Imported dye," Marissa said. "Good weave. Silk lining. You could sell this to a second-hand shop for a good price."

Ashlyn tried to pull her hand out of Marissa’s grasp. She felt violated. She felt hunted.

"Get off me!" Ashlyn screamed. "You have taken enough!"

Marissa smiled. Her hand didn’t let go of the sleeve. Instead, it slid down.

Marissa dug her hand into Ashlyn’s deep pocket.

Ashlyn gasped. "What are you doing?"

She tried to push Marissa away, but Marissa was stronger, fueled by the righteousness of her cause. Marissa’s hand grasped something inside the pocket.

It was paper.

Marissa’s eyes lit up. She pulled her hand out.

She held a folded piece of parchment. It was thick, official paper.

Marissa unfolded it slowly. She held it up to the light of the lantern Mrs. Alma was holding.

"What is this?" Marissa said.

Her voice was full of mock curiosity.

She read the text. It was the deposit slip from Mr. Silas. The slip for ninety thousand silvers. The slip Ashlyn had hidden so carefully. The slip Ashlyn had staged a robbery to protect. The slip that proved Ashlyn had money—money she had stolen, invested, and hidden.

Marissa’s smile widened. It was a genuine, victorious smile that lit up her face.

"It looks like something I’ve been looking for," She said.