Chapter 2
"Otherwise, everyone goes down together."
Daniel's face turned a dark shade of fury, his chest rising and falling rapidly with anger.
He stared hard at Nora, like he was seeing a stranger instead of his own daughter.
"Fine!"
He clenched his jaw so hard it looked like he might break his teeth.
"Since you're so eager to die, I'll make it happen for you! Someone, bring me a pen and paper!"
The letter of severance was written in a flash.
He couldn't wait to ditch this burden.
Nora took the letter, stamped her mark on it, let the ink dry, and carefully tucked it away.
This thing was gold.
If the Johnston family ever hit rock bottom, this letter would save her skin. And if they ever tried to mooch off her again, she could throw it right back in their faces.
"Get out! Get out of the Johnston residence right now!" Daniel roared, jabbing his finger at the door.
Rowena, slipping back into her pitiful act, pretended to be caring as she handed over an old bundle.
"Nora, here are a few buns for you to take on the road. I doubt the Yorks will even have a hot meal waiting for you."
Nora took the bundle and gave her a faint, unreadable smile.
"Take care, Rowena. May your luck never run out."
With that, she strode out of the Johnston residence without a backward glance.
The moment she turned away, the wild determination in her eyes finally broke free.
Exile?
Barren wilderness?
Heh.
She touched the burning mark on her wrist. That was the spatial storage she had carried over from her past life.
If they wanted to get dirty, she'd show them what true ruthlessness was.
Tonight, sleep was out of the question.
She wasn't about to go straight to the York residence.
Under the cover of night, she slipped back to the Johnston residence's back door, moving like a phantom.
Relying on the original owner's memories, she avoided the patrolling guards and headed straight for the storeroom.
The storeroom was secured with three big locks.
She pulled a wire from her spatial storage, and in less than three seconds, with a click, the lock popped open.
She pushed the door open, and the gleam of gold nearly blinded her.
Boxes of gold and silver, bolts of silk and satin, and heaps of antiques and paintings piled up like a mountain.
Most of it was the wedding gifts left behind by her birth mother, but now it had become Daniel's ticket to promotion and riches.
"Let's collect it all."
With a wave of her hand, she swept everything into her spatial storage.
The storeroom, which had been overflowing just moments ago, was now completely empty.
Even the rats would leave crying. There wasn't a single crumb left for them.
But that wasn't enough.
She headed straight for Daniel's study and emptied out every secret compartment she could find.
Next, she hit up Rowena's room.
Rowena was out with Henry, enjoying a moonlit stroll, so her room was empty.
Nora eyed the wardrobe stuffed with fancy dresses and sparkling jewelry, scoffed, and stashed every last bit into her spatial storage.
Not even Rowena's silk quilt or the tea set on her desk was safe. Nora took those too.
Finally, she headed for the kitchen and grabbed all the rice, flour, oil, salt, smoked meats, ham, fresh fruits, and veggies.
She cleaned the place out, not even leaving a crumb behind.
After clearing out every last bit, she finally left, feeling utterly satisfied.
She stood atop the Johnston residence, watching the mansion glow with lights, a ruthless smile playing on her lips.
"Hope you don't look too pathetic when you start bawling tomorrow morning."
Once she was out of the Johnston residence, she made her way straight to the palace.
"If I'm getting exiled, then you all can suffer right along with me."
Didn't the King love raiding people's estates?
"Well, let's see how you like it when I rob you blind!"
With the invisibility power from her spatial storage, limited to ten minutes but enough, she infiltrated the national treasury.
When she saw the mountain of gold and jewels piled high, her eyes sparkled with greed.
The King was filthy rich!
She grabbed everything in sight.
She moved through every place like a plague of locusts, leaving nothing but emptiness behind.
Half an hour later.
The two richest places in the Valen Empire were nothing but hollow shells now.
Meanwhile, Nora was bouncing along in a rickety old carriage, heading for the York residence.
Her secret stash was piled so high with supplies, she could've opened a supermarket on the road to exile.
But she couldn't let anyone catch on. She had to keep pretending and act like a woman cast out by her family, penniless and doomed to die.
Just as dawn broke, the front gate of the York residence was kicked open with a loud crash.
"By order of the King! The York family is guilty of treason and colluding with the enemy. Your crimes are beyond forgiveness! The whole clan is to be exiled to Southmarch, set out at once!"
The royal guards burst in, looking like demons ready to tear the place apart.
The whole residence erupted in chaos, with cries and wails shaking the walls.
Nora was sitting by Caleb's bedside.
The man lying in bed was deathly pale, his eyes closed, his breathing so faint it was barely there.
Even so, his face showed deep, sharp features, carrying a chilling aura of killing intent.
Was this the infamous "War Reaper"?
"What are you waiting for? Move him out!"
A guard stormed in with a whip and brought it down hard on the bedframe, the crack echoing through the room.
"This cripple can't even walk. Just drag him out!"
Nora's eyes went cold, and she instinctively stepped in front of Caleb, shielding him.
"He's an imperial official. Even if he's being exiled, he shouldn't be treated with such humiliation!"