Chapter 2

At noon the next day, I walked out of the room, wrapped in my torn clothes. I just happened to catch sight of Jane, who was walking into Ashton's room with a bowl of soup. There was a bright red mark on her neck.

She looked at me, her eyes roving up and down. She smiled meaningfully.

"What are you in such a hurry for, Ms. Stone?" She asked, standing in front of me as she lifted her chin slightly.

"Have you done something that you can't tell anyone about? I guess that it would be kind of ridiculous if rumors spread about you seducing a man just for his money, especially when he's old enough to be your father."

I looked up at her. "Are you talking about yourself?"

Jane huffed. "Don't try to be witty with me, Ms. Stone. Someone like you could never compare with me. I'm going to marry Ashton. You're just a tool to satisfy the desire with."

I pulled my clothes around myself. A tool to satisfy the desire with?

In my past life, it was true that Craig had spent money to look for someone. When he was done, he had given her a sum of money to settle the matter.

Things would be different in this life. I was going to strike the jackpot on my first try. If I had been able to get pregnant with Ashton's children in my past life, then I was sure that I could get pregnant with Craig's this time.

My gaze swept over the bowl that Jane was carrying. "You'd better go in and serve Mr. Byrd, Ms. Yates."

I was about to leave, but then I saw Ashton walking over to us out of the corner of my eye. He put an arm around Jane and leaned over to nuzzle up to her.

"Jane, last night was so tiring. Why don't you sleep for a while more with me?"

Jane pouted, her lips glistening. "I've got to go to my part-time job. I can't keep staying here with you."

She looked at me as she spoke. "Ms. Stone seems to have a lot of time on her hands. I envy her."

Ashton said disdainfully, "She doesn't matter at all. Babe, stop going to that part-time job. You're mine now."

He turned to look at me with a cold look in his eyes.

"Did you tell the driver to bring Jane here last night? You're pretty smart. However, you'd better remember your place. Don't even try to think about what isn't yours!"

His ice-cold words seemed to stab me in the heart. They made me seem like a clown. I supposed that it wasn't possible to hide it when you liked someone.

In my last life, Ashton had saved me when I was getting bullied. I fell for him and kept running to wherever he was. After graduating, I had come to be an interim steward with the Byrds, all so that I could be closer to the person I liked.

I had asked him if he sincerely wanted to marry me.

He had clearly nodded and had even comforted me. "Of course, I'm willing to. Just focus on having a smooth pregnancy."

However, once he had taken full control of the Byrds, he had lost patience with me. Ashton was a thorough hypocrite!

I nodded casually. "I know."

In this life, since Jane had gone in to save him, I wondered if they would be able to grow old together.

I was about to leave, but Ashton suddenly stood in front of me and blocked my path completely. His gaze was fixed on my arm, which still had red marks from being restrained.

"Who did this?" He reached out and grabbed my arm roughly. "Are you that desperate for men? Can't you even endure it for a moment?"

He was gripping my arm tightly, and my torn clothes slipped. I reached out with my other hand to pull my clothes around me once more.

I suppressed the pain from my arms and looked at Ashton with revulsion. "Please let go, Mr. Byrd!"

He was slightly flushed, and his grip on me tightened.

"Was it with the security guard here? Are you really that desperate?"

There was a vicious look in his eyes as if he wanted nothing more than to toss me out right then and there. I was about to tell him to get lost, but Jane's voice suddenly drifted over.

"It burns!"

Ashton flung me aside at once and ran over to Jane.

She was crouching down, and the bowl of soup had spilled everywhere. She sobbed as she clutched her arm.

"It burned me, and it hurts so much…" Ashton immediately helped her up and pulled her into his arms.

Jane put her chin on his shoulder while she placed her other hand on him. There was a look of triumph in her eyes as she looked at me.

In my past life, Jane had been flirting with several men while also seducing Ashton. Some of the men were much older than her, because her goal was to marry into a rich family. When Ashton had married me, she had immediately attached herself to an older man and had even gone abroad to have the man's child.

She had ended up getting beaten every day. Unable to escape, she killed the man before killing herself.

Ashton firmly believed that Jane had killed herself because of him. I looked at myself in the mirror, and there was a strange feeling in my abdomen.

I was probably about to become a mother. Ashton would no longer be the only successor of the Byrds. I laughed softly, but there was no mirth in my eyes at all.