Chapter 7

Edwin really put emphasis on that word "take care."

Ashley felt every hair on her body stand on end.

"It's getting late, Grandma. You should get some rest. We'll head out now."

As he spoke, Edwin had already wrapped an arm snugly around Ashley's shoulders, steering her out. Her body went stiff, and feeling that, he tightened his grip around her thin shoulder, eyes narrowing as he looked down at her. "Scared of me?"

Who wouldn't be scared of a psycho that kills without blinking?

Ashley kept up her sweet, harmless act, eyes filled with fear, but too afraid to make him mad, she quickly shook her head.

Maybe, just maybe, he'd go soft on her for saving his grandmother. Wishful thinking, but worth a try.

But Edwin clearly saw right through her.

"You're the first to come out alive from Rusty's hands..."

The cold smile on his lips vanished. He suddenly tightened his grip around her neck and shoved her against the wall. His eyes were icy and sharp as blades. "Let me make this clear—take care of my grandma. And you better kill any idea of running. If I find out you try to escape again, I don't care where you go, I'll drag you back—and trust me, you'll wish you were dead. Got it?"

Terror flickered in Ashley's eyes. She barely managed a nod.

He let go and reached into his pocket to answer his buzzing phone.

"Clarence," he said.

"Any leads on the woman who attacked me in the cave?"

"Not yet," came Clarence's voice. "There are a dozen villages in that area. It'll take more time to search them all."

Edwin glanced at Ashley, then started walking away. "Then go find out if this new bride of the King family—did she ever live around there?"

He didn't so much as pause as he walked off, disappearing from her sight.

Ashley frowned slightly. That line—did he say it on purpose so she'd hear it? Or... did he really think she was deaf and mute, so he didn't bother hiding anything around her?

Either way, she wasn't sure. But there was one thing she was dead certain about: if Edwin ever found out she was the woman from that cave, she'd be done for.

Suddenly, she remembered something and rushed back to Edwin's bedroom.

Her luggage was still by the door. She dug through it thoroughly but couldn't find that pendant she'd swiped from him.

Gone?

Ashley frowned, thinking back—she'd still had it on the way to the Sullivan house. That meant someone there probably swiped it from her.

Honestly? That kind of worked out. One less thing to give her away.

If that pendant had stayed with her, it would've been like carrying a ticking bomb.

Ashley let out a quiet breath of relief.

She unzipped the bottom compartment of her suitcase and pulled out her phone. A new message had come in—from Freddie Bowman, one of her contacts she'd planted in North City years ago.

It was a foreign website. Ashley clicked on it, and right at the top was a bold headline: "Genius Perfumer - Audrey Sullivan, heiress to the Sullivan Group, wins first place in the International Perfume Competition!"

Beatrice had two daughters. Aside from the clueless Isobel, there was the older one, Audrey—a product of Beatrice's hefty investments and someone she clearly took pride in.

Ashley opened the interview video below the headline.

In the video, Audrey stood surrounded by reporters, looking sweet and elegant in a white long dress.

"Miss Sullivan, this is your very first competition, and you've already come in first. Any secret to your success?"

Audrey smiled delicately at the camera, "My skills improved fast thanks to a formula my mother passed down to me."

"Miss Sullivan, people have speculated that your biological mother might be the legendary perfumer Grace Mackenzie. Care to clear that up?"

Audrey hesitated for a second, then said sincerely, "I think the love from someone who raised you is the same as someone who gave birth to you. I hope everyone can respect my privacy. Thanks."

The comment section exploded with praise like "like mother, like daughter," and Audrey just smiled shyly, clearly taking it all in.

Behind the screen, Ashley's lips curved into a cold, bitter smirk. She wished she could reach through and tear that fake, sweet face apart.

Seriously? That girl had the nerve to pretend to be her mom's daughter?

Ashley shut the video and sent a message to Freddie: "Keep tabs on the Sullivan family. Also, get me a sample of the perfume Audrey used in the preliminaries."

No way someone like Audrey could've concocted a winning scent. Something was definitely fishy.

Freddie replied almost instantly: "Got it! Boss, I just found out Audrey booked a flight home for the day after tomorrow. Edward Sullivan already made reservations at the Half Moon Bay Hotel. He's throwing her a birthday party and is supposedly announcing her as the next in line. That's the update."

So Audrey was really planning to dig in and enjoy the life that wasn't hers.

Ha. Dream on.

Ashley replied: "Stick to the original plan."

Freddie: "Copy that. Boss, you still can't talk, huh? Man, kinda miss getting yelled at by you."

Ashley: "...I'll make up for it soon."

Not just yelling. She'd beat him too if she felt like it.

She deleted the messages and tucked the phone away.

She didn't dare sleep in Edwin's bed, so she curled up on the sofa instead.

That night, Ashley barely slept, her mind on alert the whole time. Edwin didn't come back at all.

Early the next morning, there was a knock at the door.

"Ma'am," Isaiah said, holding two warm breakfast boxes, "Mrs. King asks if you could take these over to the Cedar Hollow Lodge. I'll walk you there, but we servants aren't allowed in, so I'll have to wait outside."