Stolen Gifts and Sinister Toxins

Benedict abruptly looked up at her, clearly displeased. "Mother, the Ashbourne family's manors are our family legacy. If word got out that we're selling them just to scrape together a wedding gift, wouldn't we become the laughingstock of the entire nobility?"

Clarissa's eyes reddened, on the verge of tears. "But now, I truly have no other way out," she said, her voice trembling.

Clarissa had alrea