The Duke's Masked Wife

There was never a moment in his life that would make Edgar want to strangle an old woman until now. To say he was angry would be an understatement. In less than two minutes, someone tried to harm Alessandra in his presence. The only thing holding him back from reuniting the woman with her dead son was the confidence radiating from Alessandra.

It took a lot of Edgar to put his anger to the side and watch what Alessandra would do next. She wanted to be in control and he would let her but the next person who tried to attack her would have to deal with him.

Alessandra tugged the cane out of Greta's hands, causing the woman to almost fall out of the chair because of how strong she had been gripping the cane. "I don't know why but I feel like you have raised this to me before but my memory is faded. This won't happen again," Alessandra tossed the cane to the side. "I am not going to let any of you abuse me anymore. Whether it is mental or physical. I have had enough."

Greta stared at Alessandra in disbelief. It was rude of the young to snatch the cane from her elder and toss it to the side when it is clearly needed. So far Katrina was right about Alessandra changing now that she married a Duke. "You've earned yourself a title and now you want to act like you are the most powerful woman in all the kingdom?" She asked.

"No," Alessandra shook her head."I've simply grown tired of being someone's victim. I am going to try to understand your anger as a mother losing her son but I will never forget what was almost done to me. I did not deserve to get sent off to one of my father's friends just because my father was not good with his money."

Katrina opened her mouth to speak but in the corner of her eye she saw Edgar shaking his finger at her, warning her not to speak then he touched his cheek where the cut he had given her was. Katrina wished the man would mind his business and let the women speak. It had been a while since she saw Alessandra so there was a lot to be said.

It was nerve-wracking to see that after everything she had done to make Alessandra suffer and Kate stand out, Alessandra had managed to place herself far above Kate. If Edgar was not present, Katrina would use this reunion to take her built-up frustration out on Alessandra.

"Your father screwed up but I listened endlessly to him think of ways to turn everything around. Desmond screwed up many times but I raised him with enough morals not to sell off his daughter. My son did not deserve to die over your lies," said Greta.

"I had no reason to lie about my father. Since the Baroness won't tell you, go find William Lancaster and ask what was owed to him by your son. I'm sure it is the biggest debt my father had since he would give up his own daughter. I don't wish to see any more Barretts at our gates-"

Katrina scoffed, "So you are not a Barrett now?"

Alessandra smiled because Katrina forgot her last name had changed since she married Edgar and she was never treated like a Barrett inside of her father's home. "I thought you would have been pleased that I do not consider myself a Barrett anymore. You and Kate have always wanted me gone. I am Alessandra Collins, the Duchess. When you try seeking me out in the future please remember that I am not the same little girl you have tortured for years."

Greta calmed herself and asked, "What torture?"

She did not trust snakes like Katrina to give her the full story and wanted to hear what else Alessandra had to say to connect the dots of what was missing. The name William Lancaster sounded like one of Desmond's friends and she doubted Alessandra would send her to a random person with a fake story. Even if Desmond tried selling Alessandra it would not make Greta accept that her son deserved to die.

Greta was the one to advise Desmond to keep Alessandra out of sight because of the foolish rumors about her being cursed but she was not aware of any torture.

"I do not for a second believe that you were unaware of what life was like for me in that house. Did you honestly not question what happened to my face? You only have two sons and two granddaughters so there should have been enough love and care for all of us. What did you honestly expect to get from visiting me?" Alessandra asked as she did not see the point of the visit.

Did the two women intend to come to yell about her father's death? Judge her for not attending the funeral? Blame everything on her? Say that she changed or was the intention to just try hitting her? This was a pointless visit.

"You need to take ownership of my son's death and let the people in this town know the type of person that you are. As soon as you found a man with money, you changed. Family should come first and you know that it was wrong for your father to be killed like a stranger on the street where you wouldn't have to care," said Greta.

"One," Alessandra held up one finger. "You cannot say that I have changed when you do not know anything about my personality. Two, I will say that I regret my father dying that night. I wished he could have suffered more. I don't want to see or hear that another Barrett is by our gates seeking an audience with me. I don't care to chit chat, to hear apologies or what nonsense all of you can think of."

"Or what? You will send this monster to scar my face again. One would think someone in your position would be against another person's face being scarred. I know you well, Alessandra," Katrina said as she saw right through this act Alessandra was putting on. This little confidence Alessandra had wouldn't be so hard to destroy.

'I will swallow my pride and work with William if it means knocking down these two off their high horses,' Katrina thought.

"You will use this man to get rid of us as you did with your father?" Greta asked.

"No, I will personally deal with all of you myself if you try meddling in my life again. The only way for all of you to understand my frustration is for you to experience what I did when I lived with my father. I will find a way to ruin all of you if you do not stop trying to be in my space. Do not underestimate me," said Alessandra.

Katrina's shoulders shook from laughter. "Oh, how bold you have become. What will you do, dear?"

Alessandra smiled, already knowing the first place to hit Katrina to teach her a lesson. "Since I have gotten married it is only right that I receive my inheritance. I should go to the officials to receive answers on why I have not yet received it."

Katrina stopped laughing now that the inheritance was mentioned. It was money that Desmond did not have when he was alive and money that Katrina could not hand over right now.