CHAPTER 116: CHAPTER HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN

Ashlyn stopped crying for a split second. Her heart hammered against her ribs. No...no ... no. She’s going to expose me.

"This was all her scheme to frame me," Marissa continued, her voice level and factual. "There was no baby. It was a lie from the beginning."

Beatrice looked at Marissa, shocked. Then she looked at Ashlyn.

"Ashlyn?" Beatrice asked. "What is this? Is this true?"

Ashlyn knew she had to act. She couldn’t let this doubt take root, she’s already on the losing side with only Carlos taking her side. She sat up in bed, wincing in fake pain. She clutched her stomach.

"How could you?" Ashlyn screamed, tears streaming down her face again. " Are you that heartless? Is your heart made of stone that you can’t be sympathetic?" She looked at Marissa with pure venom. "My child is gone! My blood is still on my dress! And you still have the audacity to spew lies. You killed him, and now you want to erase his existence?"

She turned to Carlos, reaching out her hand to hold his. "Carlos, don’t listen to her! She is evil! She doesn’t want to see me happy. To see us happy!"

Carlos looked at his wife. He saw her pain. He saw the blood. The blood was real. The doctor had said it was a miscarriage. Everything happened right in front of his eyes.

"You are crazy," Carlos snarled at Marissa. "The doctor just confirmed it! Dr. Aris just left!"

"Dr. Aris," Marissa repeated, a small, mocking smile touching her lips. "A doctor Ashlyn hired privately. A doctor who ran out of here like a thief."

Marissa turned back to Beatrice.

"Grandmother," Marissa said respectfully. "I knew something was wrong. I was concerned for my sister’s health. I didn’t trust a stranger with the Thompson child."

Marissa paused for effect.

"So," she said, "before I came to this room, I sent a fast rider to the barracks to deliver a message to Derek. I asked the Grand Duke to summon the Royal Physician."

"But it takes the king’s order to summon the Royal Physician into our home. How will he do it?" Beatrice asked, her voice laced with concern.

Marissa replied, her voice calm and cold, occasionally looking at Carlos and Ashlyn simultaneously. " Have you forgotten, Grandmother? Your Grand Son is the acting Commander of the Thompson’s Army. If the Grand Duke needs the Royal Physician for his family sake, the king won’t refuse."

Hearing those words, Ashlyn’s eyes went wide. Her face, already pale, turned the color of chalk.

The Royal Physician.

The Royal Physician was the King’s own doctor. He was incorruptible. And he was skilled. If he examined her... he would find out all three of her secrets. First, he would find the traces of the Western pill. Then, He would see that her womb had not carried a child. And finally, He would know the blood was chemically induced.

"When he comes," Marissa said, focusing her gaze straight at Ashlyn, "he will verify the truth. He will examine the blood. He will examine you. And he will tell us if there was ever a baby."

Panic exploded in Ashlyn’s chest. Fear made it hard for her to breath. She couldn’t let that happen. If the Royal Physician examined her, she would be exposed as a liar and a fraud. She would be ruined. Utterly ruined. She might even be thrown out of the family again like the last time.

"No!" Ashlyn shouted.

She realized she had spoken too quickly. She tried to soften her voice, but the fear was evident.

"No... no need to trouble him," Ashlyn stammered. She lay back down, pulling the covers up to her chin. "I... I am tired. I am in pain. I just want to rest. I wish to see no one. Send him away."

She looked at Carlos, her eyes wide and pleading. She needed him to protect her. She needed him to stop the examination.

"Carlos..." she said, her voice weak and pathetic. "Please... I can’t bear it. Don’t let them touch me anymore."

Carlos looked at his wife. He saw her terror. But he interpreted it as grief. He thought Marissa was torturing her. He thought Marissa was trying to humiliate Ashlyn even in her moment of loss.

The rage inside him boiled over. He couldn’t see reason anymore. All he saw was the woman who had ruined his life, who had frozen his money, and who had now killed his child and called his wife a liar.

"You murderer..." Carlos hissed.

He turned on Marissa. He didn’t care that she was the Grand Duchess. He didn’t care about consequences. He wanted to hurt her.

He raised his hand high. It was a heavy hand, a hand that had struck Ashlyn many times. Now, it was aimed at Marissa.

He lunged forward, swinging his arm with all his strength to strike Marissa across the face.

Marissa didn’t flinch. She stood her ground, watching the hand come toward her.

"Carlos!" Beatrice shouted, terrified.

The hand came down fast. But it never landed.

A black-gloved hand shot out. It caught Carlos’s wrist in mid-air. The grip was crushing. It stopped Carlos’s swing instantly, jerking his entire body to a halt.

Carlos gasped in pain and shock. He looked up.

Derek stood before him.

He was still in his military uniform, dust on his boots from a hard ride. His face was terrifying. It was a mask of cold, lethal fury. His eyes were dark pits of anger.

"How dare you," Derek said. His voice was low, a rumble of thunder before the storm.

He tightened his grip on Carlos’s wrist. Carlos whimpered as he felt his bones grinding together. Derek twisted the arm slightly, forcing Carlos to drop to his knees.

"How dare you try to hit my wife?" Derek asked.

He looked down at his brother, his expression merciless.

"Seems you don’t need this hand anymore," Derek said coldly. "Shall I remove it for you?"