Reborn To Change My Fate-Chapter 307 - Three Hundred And Six

LMarissa’s voice was not loud, but it carried a sharp authority.

The guards paused immediately. They stopped dragging Ashlyn and looked up at the Grand Duchess, waiting for her command.

Marissa slowly walked down the stone steps. Her night robe dragged slightly on the stones. She walked across the dirt courtyard until she stood right in front of Ashlyn.

Ashlyn stopped struggling. She looked at Marissa. Her face was stained with dirt, blood, and endless tears. She breathed heavily, her chest heaving. When she looked into Marissa’s calm, composed eyes, a deep, bitter hatred boiled up inside her.

"My downfall today," Ashlyn hissed, glaring at her sister with pure venom, "is all your doing."

She spat the words out like poison. She blamed Marissa for the trap at the Golden Swan. She blamed Marissa for Liam’s anger. She blamed Marissa for everything.

Marissa looked at her. Her expression did not change. There was no guilt, no anger, only a cold, hard truth.

"Ashlyn," Marissa replied, her voice smooth and even. "I never intentionally harmed you. I only defended myself against your attacks. Your fate tonight is no one’s fault but yours."

Ashlyn let out a harsh, wet laugh. "My fault?" she cried.

She strained against the guards’ grip, leaning forward as if she wanted to bite Marissa.

"You made me marry Carlos!" Ashlyn shouted, her voice echoing in the quiet yard. "You act so innocent, but you orchestrated it! You clearly knew what kind of man he was! You knew he was a coward, a failure, a violent fool! Yet you let me marry him. You pushed me into this hell!"

Ashlyn’s eyes were wild. "What were your intentions, Marissa? Did you want to see me suffer?"

Marissa did not flinch. She took a step closer to her sister. She invaded Ashlyn’s space, forcing Ashlyn to look her directly in the eye.

"Have you forgotten?" Marissa asked softly. The tone of her voice changed. It held a secret weight, a shared knowledge that only the two of them understood.

Marissa leaned in slightly, lowering her voice so the guards would not understand the true meaning of her words.

"You thought my title as Grand Duchess in my previous life came from Carlos," Marissa whispered smoothly. "You saw me at the top. You saw the wealth, the power, the respect. You thought Carlos was the golden ticket. So, when we were given a second chance, you insisted on swapping grooms. You stole him from me, thinking you were stealing my future."

Ashlyn’s breath hitched. Her eyes darted around nervously. Hearing the truth of their past life spoken out loud made her stomach twist.

Marissa stood up straighter. Her eyes hardened into sharp stones.

"You were dead wrong," Marissa stated firmly, crushing Ashlyn’s delusions. "He did not make me the Grand Duchess. I made him the Grand Duke."

Ashlyn stared at her, her lips trembling.

"He rose to that position because of my exhaustive efforts," Marissa continued, her voice ringing with absolute certainty and pride. "I helped him during Strathmore’s plague. I handled the politics. I covered up his mistakes. I built the alliances. He was nothing but an empty suit."

Marissa looked down at her sister, a figure of true, earned power.

"Every life I have lived," Marissa declared, "I carved my own path. I claimed my position through my own abilities, my own sweat, and my own blood. Not through a man."

Ashlyn stared at Marissa. The illusion she had built her entire second life upon finally shattered completely. She had chosen Carlos thinking he was a shortcut to glory. She had been too lazy to do the work herself. She had wanted the prize without the struggle.

The realization broke her mind. Ashlyn gave a manic, broken chuckle. It sounded like glass cracking.

"You merely exploited foresight," Ashlyn spat, trying desperately to hold onto her victimhood. "You knew what was going to happen! You used your knowledge of the future to set me up!"

She shook her head, tears streaming down her face again.

"You have won," Ashlyn cried, her voice turning into a pathetic whine. "You have won, so you can smugly stand there and say such things! But I won’t accept it! It is not fair!"

She sobbed, her body sagging in the guards’ grip.

"Why?" Ashlyn wailed to the night sky. "Why must I lose so completely in both lives? Why am I the one in the dirt?"

Marissa looked at her crying sister. The tiny shred of pity she had felt earlier vanished, replaced by a profound disappointment.

"We are sisters," Marissa responded, her voice tight. "We share the same blood. We should be supporting each other in this harsh world. But you..."

Marissa shook her head slowly.

"Given a second chance," Marissa said, "a miracle that no one else gets... what did you do? You collided with those who harmed you. You allied with Lorena. You allied with Senna. You threw yourself at Prince Liam."

Marissa’s voice grew colder with every name.

"You spent your entire second life scheming relentlessly against me," Marissa stated. "You wished me dead. You tried to ruin my marriage. You tried to ruin my reputation. You focused all your energy in destroying my life instead of building your own."

Marissa pointed at Ashlyn’s ruined, bloody dress.

"This is the bitter fruit you sowed, Ashlyn," Marissa said simply. "You wove your own trap. And tonight, you finally caught yourself in it."

Hearing the brutal, undeniable truth was too much for Ashlyn. The reality that her misery was her own creation snapped the last thread of her sanity.

Ashlyn let out a furious, animalistic scream.

With a sudden burst of adrenaline, she violently jerked her arms, breaking free from the surprised guards’ loose grip. She lunged forward with her hands outstretched like claws.

"Lies!" Ashlyn shrieked.

She slammed into Marissa. Her bloody, dirty hands reached up and grabbed Marissa’s neck. Her fingers dug into Marissa’s soft skin, squeezing with surprising strength.

"You stole my good fortune!" Ashlyn screamed right into Marissa’s face, spit flying from her lips. Her eyes were completely unhinged.

"That is why everything goes your way! That is why you have Derek! That is why you have money! You stole my luck while I stumble, living this wretched, miserable life! Give it back!"

Marissa choked as the air was cut off, but she did not panic. She signaled the guards not to intervene. She raised her own hands. She gripped Ashlyn’s wrists firmly. With a swift, practiced motion she had learned from Derek, she twisted her body and pushed Ashlyn’s arms outward, breaking the chokehold instantly.

Before Ashlyn could recover, Marissa drew her right hand back.

Smack!

Marissa slapped Ashlyn across the face.

It was a hard, resounding slap. It echoed loudly in the courtyard. The force of it knocked Ashlyn’s head to the side and sent her stumbling backward until she fell hard onto the dirt, completely dazed.

Marissa stood over her, rubbing her own neck, her chest heaving slightly. Her eyes blazed with a fierce, independent fire.

"You always blame others for your misfortune," Marissa said, her voice dripping with absolute disgust. "You blame me. You blame Carlos. You even blame absurd superstitions about stolen luck and good fortune."

Marissa looked down at the pathetic woman in the dirt.

"Our fate has always been in our hands, Ashlyn," Marissa declared firmly. "No one steals your luck. You build it. You and I chose different paths from the very start of this second life. I chose to work. I chose to fight. You chose to scheme and steal."

Marissa turned her back on her sister. She was done. The conversation was over. The ties were finally, completely severed.

"So," Marissa said, looking straight ahead toward the heavy wooden doors of the house, "face the consequences of your choice."

Marissa did not look back. She raised her hand.

"Guards!" Marissa commanded sharply.

The two guards, who had stepped forward to intervene during the attack, immediately snapped to attention. They rushed forward.

"Throw her out," Marissa ordered without a shred of hesitation.

The guards bent down. They grabbed Ashlyn by the arms and hauled her to her feet.

Ashlyn did not struggle this time. The slap, and the crushing weight of the truth, had drained the last bit of fight out of her. Her head hung low, her tangled hair hiding her bruised and tear-stained face. She was completely limp, a broken doll being dragged through the dirt.

The guards pulled her across the courtyard. They reached the large iron gates where Carlos had been thrown out minutes before. With a strong heave, they shoved Ashlyn out into the cold, dark street.

The heavy iron gates swung shut with a loud, final clang, locking with a heavy click.