The Millionaire’s Bride Mocked a Poor Maid—She Never Expected What Happened Next
Chapter 8
William pushed the documents into Anna’s hands.
“Run.”
“I won’t leave you.”
“You aren’t leaving me.”
He pointed toward the rear window.
“You’re carrying the evidence. That’s what matters.”
Anna climbed through.
Beatrice followed.
William remained behind.
Richard entered the chapel.
“You disappoint me,” he said.
William stood alone.
“You murdered Samuel Reed.”
Richard smiled.
“He was a farmer.”
“He was a man.”
“He was in the way.”
William’s face hardened.
“And now I’m in the way.”
Richard raised his pistol.
But before he could fire, the chapel doors burst open.
Magistrates entered with armed officers.
Richard froze.
William had sent the message before the escape.
Anna had not known.
Richard was arrested.
Graves was captured before he could flee.
The evidence was laid before the magistrates.
The inheritance document.
The ledgers.
The payment records.
The letters.
The testimony.
And finally, the evidence concerning Samuel Reed.
Richard was charged with fraud, forgery, conspiracy, and murder.
But the greatest shock came days later.
The magistrate confirmed Anna’s legal claim.
She was entitled to the inheritance originally promised to her mother.
The fortune was enormous.
Far more than anyone had imagined.
People who had laughed at the poor maid now bowed when she entered a room.
Anna hated it.
One afternoon she returned to the kitchen.
The same servants who had once eaten beside her stood when she entered.
She waved them down.
“Please sit.”
One servant whispered:
“Miss Reed…”
Anna smiled.
“My name is Anna.”
She had not changed.
But the world around her had.
And Beatrice had changed too.
She had lost the admiration she once demanded.
Yet she had gained something she had never possessed.
Humility.
