Chapter 2
773 Words
"Benjamin rolled in with his men and trashed the Carteret family memorial hall. He says he wants to build a wedding house for that woman on the site." Mrs. Weston's voice was thick with anger.
The hall held the memorial tablets of every head of the family throughout history. All of them women. It was the spiritual heart of the Carteret line.
It also held the urn containing the remains of the person I had loved most deeply.
My gaze turned icy as I fought to keep my temper in check.
"True to form for a dog that turns on its master. This bite certainly stings. Bring the car around. I will go see this ungrateful creature myself."
When we arrived, the guards assigned to protect the hall lay on the ground with broken limbs. The ancient, stately building had been torn apart by excavators, and every ancestral tablet had been smashed to pieces.
Felicity was leaning against Benjamin's chest, excitedly pointing and gesturing over a set of blueprints.
"Run them over," I did not step out of the vehicle, giving the order in a cold, flat tone.
My modified Humvee roared to life and charged straight toward the two of them.
Felicity's eyes went wide, and her face turned deathly pale. She stood frozen in place.
Benjamin grabbed her and rolled roughly across the ground, barely escaping being crushed beneath the wheels.
I rolled down the window, my voice dripping with frost, "Benjamin, how dare you touch the Carteret family memorial hall?"
Before Benjamin could speak, Felicity, feeling confident with him at her side, shouted back defiantly.
"Adelaide, those old, outdated traditions should have been cleared away long ago! A hall built only to honor women? It goes against all common sense!
"You call yourself a woman, yet you cannot even bear a child. What right do you have to walk this earth?"
A gunshot rang out. The bullet grazed the skin of Felicity's cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood.
She fell silent instantly, her whole body trembling in terror.
"You madwoman! No wonder your own daughter refused to be born into your body! You are nothing but a sinner stained with blood!" Benjamin pulled Felicity tightly against him, shielding her with his own body, and roared back at me, his eyes burning with resentment.
A sharp pain shot through my chest. He had been with me long enough to know exactly where to strike to hurt me the most.
The little daughter I had lost before she could take her first breath was the deepest wound I carried.
To save her, I had stayed in bed from the very first month of pregnancy, received countless injections, and swallowed handfuls of medicine every single day.
But in the end, I still could not keep her.
That night, as I held her tiny lifeless form, I had questioned myself for the first time.
Had I spilled too much blood in my life? Was that why my daughter was taken away from me?
For years after that, I kept to myself, let go of most of my public duties, and spent my days praying for her soul.
I didn't realize that my restraint and calm these past years had only given this wild dog the impression that he could rise up and rule over me!
"Where is the urn holding the remains of Alice?" I looked at Benjamin, my expression completely devoid of warmth.
He avoided my eyes, while Felicity broke into a malicious, triumphant smile.
"That black thing? Oh, I accidentally threw it into the toilet! It was nothing but a useless burden anyway. It doesn't matter if it's gone!"
The corners of my mouth lifted into a faint smile. I felt no real anger.
The truth was, I had long ago sent my daughter's actual ashes to a church, where they had been properly blessed and laid to rest.
But seeing these two barking so loudly was truly an eyesore.
"Anyone who insults the Carteret family must repay it in blood. How would you two prefer to die?"
At my command, dozens of guards surrounded them, the air thick with the intention of killing.
Yet Benjamin showed no sign of panic. Instead, his eyes shone with mockery and arrogance.
"Adelaide, do you really believe you are still the all‑powerful woman you once were?"
I looked at his smug, unafraid expression and felt a flicker of curiosity.
Even though I had been keeping a low profile, I still held tight control over all power and influence in the region.
Who exactly had given him the confidence to act so recklessly?
- Writer
