“Trying to run? Do you still expect anyone to protect you these days?”

Charles Bolton let out a mocking laugh, then strolled after her at an unhurried pace, his tone tinged with the cruel amusement of a hawk toying with a sparrow. When he exited through the back door of the mourning hall and saw that Henry Clark had already run past the corridor—knowing that led to the lotus pond in the rear garden—he became even more certain of her intentions. Upon reaching the rear garden, he saw her running desperately around the lotus pond, as if planning to escape through the back gate. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, hands clasped behind his back. Sure enough, just as she was about to reach the garden’s side gate, two old servant women appeared from who knows where, blocking the path tightly from both sides. They rolled up their sleeves and moved forward to seize her. Seeing Henry Clark forced to turn back in defeat under their pursuit, he curled his lips in a smirk and sauntered forward to meet her.

“Run, then! Why aren’t you running anymore? There are plenty of places in this house to hide—why insist on hiding here? Oh, you want to escape the yamen? Tsk tsk, what a wild fantasy. Not to mention there’s already a curfew, even if I let you go, have you thought about your mother and younger brother at home? Where could you possibly run to?”

Faced with such blatant threats, Henry Clark finally stopped in her tracks. Even when the two servant women caught up and grabbed her arms from either side, she seemed to resign herself to fate and no longer struggled. However, when Charles Bolton approached and hooked her chin with a finger, she still couldn’t help but reveal undisguised hatred and contempt.

“Don’t show me that gnashing, hateful face. You’re just an insignificant common girl, and my late wife’s goddaughter at that—who would believe that I, the Prefect of Guide, would have designs on you? If you dare make a scene, you’ll be branded as a seductress and adulteress. By then, your mother, your brother, even your father and brothers serving in the army far away, will all be implicated by you! If you’re truly smart, you should know what to do now and in the future!”

Hearing these words, each like a knife gouging her heart, Henry Clark felt her whole body tremble violently, her mind going blank. Just then, she suddenly saw a thin figure appear behind Charles Bolton. Recognizing who it was, a glimmer of hope rose in her heart. Before she could call out, the figure suddenly spoke: “Father!”

This cry of “Father” startled Charles Bolton. Turning to see it was his eldest daughter Olivia Bolton, he grew furious and snapped, “It’s so late—why aren’t you resting, or keeping vigil for your mother in the mourning hall? What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing? If I hadn’t come out, how could I witness such a good show?”

Though she was born sickly, the family’s wealth meant that Madam Gu constantly sought out famous doctors and rare medicines to keep Olivia Bolton alive. Though she looked frail, she had grown up safely. Now, leaning against a willow tree, she glanced at her enraged father Charles Bolton, then at Henry Clark, before sneering coldly: “Mother just passed away, and you’re already so impatient, Father. Aren’t you afraid of being laughed at if word gets out? And you don’t even care who you’re dragging into your room—when did our Zhang family become so shameless?”

Hearing this, Charles Bolton was angry, but his eyes soon lit up. Meanwhile, Henry Clark, who had thought her savior had arrived, felt as if struck on the head and blurted out, “Sister, you—”

“Don’t call me sister! What makes you my sister?” Olivia Bolton frowned in disgust, straightening up as she spoke coldly, “Clinging to our family for a bit of kindness, only because my mother was blind enough to treat you like a treasure, while neglecting her real daughter. You bewitched her! If you hadn’t flaunted your looks, would my father have taken a fancy to a low-born woman like you? Dream on if you think you can marry into the Zhang family!”

Charles Bolton had always been deeply afraid of his noble-born wife, and by extension, somewhat wary of his daughter as well. Hearing Olivia Bolton say this, he immediately put on a beaming smile and said, “Since you say so, Yu’er, I’ll have her removed from the residence.”

“As long as she’s out of my sight, I don’t care what you do, Father!” Seeing her father’s delighted face, Olivia Bolton snorted disdainfully. “But listen well, Father: you can take all the gold and silver from Mother’s dowry, but from now on, I’ll be in charge of all her properties!”

“What?”

Charles Bolton felt as if struck on the head, nearly stunned. His wife was born into a marquis’s family. Because the emperor valued frugality, her official dowry was only thirty-two sedan chairs’ worth, but privately, her mother and two elder brothers had given her jewelry and valuables worth tens of thousands. The most valuable, however, were the shops and properties in the capital. Besides that, his wife had used her status to buy land and shops at bargain prices while accompanying him on his postings—assets even the marquis’s household didn’t know about. With these, even if his wife’s family didn’t help, he could use them to seek a transfer back to the capital. During her illness, he had already begun scheming for these, even having Mama Song poison Mama Zheng. Yet he hadn’t expected his daughter to be eyeing them as well.

“Nonsense!”