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