Chapter 2

The next morning, before the sun was even up, the housekeeper was at her door, pushing me like there was no time to waste.

"My lady, it's time to rise and pay your respects to Mrs. Maria Payne. The Payne family comes from a long line of scholars, and we have strict standards. It's not like your merchant family, where everyone lazes about."

This housekeeper was Maria's right-hand woman, and in my previous life, she made my life hell.

I got up, washed up, and made sure to pick a plain dress while taking out all the jewels from my hair.

The first time around, I showed up all dressed up, and Maria tore into me for looking like a cheap show-off.

This time, I'd play right into their hands.

When I stepped into the main hall, Dylan's mother Maria sat at the head of the room, regal and imposing.

Dylan was seated to her left, dark circles under his eyes. Clearly, he'd spent the night indulging himself.

Beside him stood a delicate woman dressed in white.

It was Lily Linwood.

She had the unmistakable look of a woman fresh from her lover's arms, with marks still blooming on her throat. She gave me a challenging stare, then tilted her head down with a practiced show of meekness.

I sank into a deep curtsy, keeping my hands folded before me. "I am here to pay my respects, Mrs. Payne."

Maria didn't even lift her eyes, lazily rolling her prayer beads as she drawled, "Charlotte, now that you're a Payne, you'll live by Payne rules. I heard you upset Dylan last night?"

I kept my head bowed, my voice trembling. "It was my fault, Mrs. Payne. I was just too clumsy and spilled the wine..."

"How dare you!" Maria barked, slamming her hand down on the table, making her prayer beads clatter.

"The wedding toast is meant to bless this union, and you had the nerve to spill it? You're a curse on this family. I see right through you. You're deliberately trying to bring ruin to the Paynes," she snapped.

"I wouldn't dare, Mrs. Payne..." I stammered.

"Made a mistake? Then you'll have to pay for it," Maria said, throwing a look at the housekeeper beside her.

The housekeeper immediately brought over a cup of scalding hot coffee and pressed it into my hands. "My lady, you may present your respects again."

The cup was scalding, the heat searing my palm and turning it red in seconds.

I clenched my jaw, not letting myself make a single sound.

This was the Paynes' way of asserting dominance.

In my last life, my hand blistered from the pain as I served the coffee, but they still complained I was too slow.

In this life, I stayed in my curtsy, holding the cup steady. "Mrs. Payne, please take your coffee."

Maria didn't take the cup. Instead, she turned to Lily and said, "Lily, you see? This is what passes for a proper lady's manners. Hardly impressive. You, on the other hand, know how to be helpful. It was thoughtful of you to keep Dylan company in his study last night while he worked on his papers."

Working on his papers? Yeah, right. More like working on something else in bed.

Lily blushed and smiled. "Oh, Aunt Maria, you're too kind. Looking after Dylan is just my duty."

Then, putting on a show of surprise as if she'd only just noticed me, Lily gasped theatrically, "Oh my, Charlotte, your hand is all red. Aunt Maria, do take the coffee. She's been spoiled her whole life and probably can't handle this kind of treatment."

What a hypocrite.

Pretending to stand up for me, but really fanning the flames.

Sure enough, Maria let out a cold snort. "Can't handle it? She's a Payne now, body and soul. How typical of a tradesman's daughter to be so delicate. This is nothing." She turned to me. "Stay in your curtsy."

I held my curtsy, my muscles screaming in protest as my palms burned with unrelenting heat.

Dylan watched from the sidelines, his gaze cold and detached. He took a leisurely sip of coffee and said lazily, "Mother's right. Charlotte, you grew up without anyone teaching you manners. She's just showing you how things work around here. You ought to thank her for it."

Grateful? You wish.

A cold glint flashed in my lowered eyes.

The coffee in the cup was nearly boiling.

I took a deep breath, then suddenly let my wrist slip and stumbled forward.

Lily let out a sharp cry. The scalding coffee splashed right onto the top of her foot, as she was nosily leaning in for the spectacle.

Her scream tore through the hall. She screeched like a banshee, leaping to her feet. Her fragile, demure act shattered in an instant.

"My foot. It's burning. It's burning!" Lily howled.

The hall instantly erupted into chaos.

Dylan's expression changed in a flash. He rushed over and grabbed Lily, panic in his voice. "Lily, are you okay?

I collapsed on the floor, looking pitiful, but out of sight, a cold smirk curled at my lips.

Then, in an instant, I switched to a face of absolute panic. "Lily, I'm so sorry. My hand slipped. I really couldn't hold it. It's all my fault."

Maria was trembling with fury, jabbing her finger right in my face and snarling, "You've gone too far. You poisonous shrew. Was this your plan all along? Were you trying to kill Lily?"

Dylan spun around, his eyes blazing, like he could skin me alive right then and there.

"Charlotte, if you so much as harm Lily, I will destroy your entire family," he thundered.

So, that ruthless streak of his finally slipped out, huh?