Ashlyn thoughts continued to wander.
If she showed up at his door now, beaten, and cast out of the Thompson family, he would not welcome her. He would not offer her a warm bed or a cup of hot tea. He would probably slap her and throw her right back into the street for bringing more shame to his name. She was a ruined woman. She was damaged goods.
"Why?" Ashlyn thought to herself as she walked.
She stumbled over a loose stone but caught herself against a dirty brick wall. She leaned against it, breathing heavily. Her back burned where Prince Liam's whip had cut her flesh. Her stomach ached with a hollow, empty pain where her baby used to be.
"Why?" she asked herself again, tears of frustration filling her eyes.
She looked down at her bleeding hands.
