They are all characters I control.

At Elena's suggestion, iron shoes were put on Lia's feet.

These iron shoes are extremely heavy, with steel needles hidden in the heels. You can only walk on your tiptoes, otherwise the needles will pierce your flesh if you put your heels down.

Meanwhile, the maid Anna had an iron collar around her neck, which tightened so much that her neck turned red. This secured Anna to the wooden stake, and the more she struggled, the more painful it became.

Seeing the two people end up like this, Marquis Marla and Elena were not worried about being blamed by Marquis Rost. This time, they had a 'legitimate' reason to punish the two.

Before this, Lia had been timid and did not resist at all, so they had not seized this opportunity.

Now that they've seized the opportunity, the stepmother and stepsister must make the most of it.

Chapter 28 I earn money to support my family, and you set fire to your backyard?

The backyard of the Rost family mansion.

Lia was bound to a wooden stake in the courtyard with rough hemp rope, her long golden hair sticking messily to her sweaty forehead.

She wore perforated iron boots, and just standing there made her feet sting.

Just a few steps away from her, the maid Anna was in an even more precarious situation.

A cold, rusty iron collar was tightly fastened around her slender neck, and the chain attached to the collar suspended her from a makeshift wooden cross.

At this moment, the maid could barely touch the ground with her toes. All her weight was pressing on her neck and toes. The iron collar tightly constricted her neck, making it difficult for her to breathe, and her face turned red.

Marquise Mara sat leisurely in the soft chair brought by the maid, as if enjoying an interesting drama.

Elena stood in front of the two, her face filled with undisguised smugness and ruthlessness, showing no trace of the gentle and well-behaved young lady she had been at the Royal Academy.

"Lia, I'm giving you one last chance," said Marquis Marla, the stepmother, in her final ultimatum.

"Hand over the engagement ring and then sign this statement voluntarily relinquishing your engagement to Prince Alvin."

“In that case, I might consider letting you suffer less and leave the Rost family with dignity.”

"Otherwise, you'll be in for a lot of trouble."

Elena, the stepsister, held a leather whip in her hand, staring at Lia and the maid Anna as if they were fish on a chopping board: "If you don't cooperate, don't blame us for not showing any mercy."

It would be a lie to say that Lia wasn't scared at all; she could tell that these two people were serious.

However, Lia showed a determination that was completely different from her usual self at this moment.

She bit her lip, looked at her stepmother and stepsister and shook her head: "I didn't steal anything. I was just cleaning the study with Anna. I won't give you the ring that my mother left me."

The engagement with Prince Alvin was irrelevant to Leah; she didn't care.

But that ring was the last thing her mother left her.

Lia was still young when her mother passed away, but she still vaguely remembered her mother's gentle embrace and the special fragrance emanating from her body.

"Cleaning?" Elena scoffed. "If we really need to clean, do we need you, Lia, to go too? Do you need to rummage through Father's locked drawers to clean? Sister, you're such a pathetic liar!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than Elena swung down the whip in her hand.

Lia closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and stood on tiptoe to prepare for the blow.

With a sharp crack, the whip lashed across Anna's back.

Anna's maid outfit was instantly torn open, revealing a gruesome bloodstain on her skin.

"Ugh—!" Anna let out a suppressed cry of pain, her body trembling violently.

Her toes slipped from her balance due to the pain, causing the iron chain around her neck to tighten even more, making her let out a suffocating whimper.

"Anna!" Lia trembled as if she herself had been whipped, pleading with her stepmother and stepsister for Anna: "Don't hit her! Please! Stop!"

"Then Liya, you should really consider our request more carefully," Marquis Mara said slowly and deliberately. They knew Liya's personality very well.

Even if Leah wore iron boots and her feet were pierced, she would continue to endure it. She was very tolerant of pain and was a pushover.

But hitting Anna would be more effective than whipping Leah directly.

Anna is the person Lia cares about most, and also Lia's weakness.

Moreover, the maid Anna seems to have been a bit disobedient lately.

Lowly servants who don't learn their lesson must be properly educated regularly.

"I...I won't..." Lia looked at Anna's pained expression, her heart in turmoil.

She couldn't bring herself to hand over her mother's belongings; but watching Anna suffer because of her caused her even more pain.

"Snapped!"

The second lash fell, crossing the first, leaving a clear "X" on Anna's back.

Anna gritted her teeth, cold sweat soaking her hair.

Seeing her best friend in such pain, Lia felt as if her heart was being torn apart.

"Anna! I'm so sorry! I..."

"Don't agree! If you give them the things, you'll really die!" Anna struggled to lift her head despite the pain and shouted in a hoarse voice.

After saying that, she looked defiantly at the second young lady, Elena.

Anna knew very well that once Leah handed over the ring, she would lose her last bit of value.

Only by not handing over the ring could they have a glimmer of hope and a chance to negotiate.

"Stubborn!" Elena's anger flared even more after being provoked by a mere maid once again.

She raised the whip in her hand and lashed it fiercely at Anna: "I'll see how long you can keep up this stubbornness! Lia, just watch from the sidelines, this is all your fault!"

The whip fell again and again, and Anna's back quickly became a bloody mess.

She stopped screaming and just bit her lip, looking up at the sun overhead.

Almost there, it's almost time.

“Anna…” Seeing Anna’s miserable state, Lia couldn’t help but shed tears.

The guilt she felt was almost consuming her; she couldn't bear to see her best friend Anna suffer such punishment.

If Anna dies, then Lia will truly be all alone.

Thinking of this, Lia, her shoulders trembling, raised her head to look at her stepmother and stepsister and said, "I...I'm willing..."

"Stop! What are you doing?!" A sudden shout interrupted the execution.

The Marquis of Rost, accompanied by several attendants, looked at Leah and Anna, who were now bound, with a very unpleasant expression.

He works hard outside for the future and prospects of his family, enduring the ridicule of others with humility, but when he comes home, he can't even have a quiet rest.

When I got back, I saw the backyard on fire.

The wife and second daughter tied up the eldest daughter and were whipping the eldest daughter's personal maid.

If this gets out, the nobles will probably laugh at him, saying that the Marquis of Rost not only doesn't understand how to collect taxes, but he also doesn't understand how to manage his own household; he's just a useless piece of trash.

How shameful! Absolutely shameful!

"My lord, you're back!" Marquise Mara immediately put on a gentle face and rushed to accuse, "You don't know, Lia and her maid were so audacious that they sneaked into your study to steal things!"

Elena quickly chimed in, "Yes, Father! That so-called new tax was actually something my sister and that wretched maid peeked into in your study; it wasn't their idea."

Marquise Mara and Miss Elena also had solid evidence; they had already prepared their excuses.

As for the matter of them forcing Liya to hand over the engagement ring, that was naturally not mentioned.

If it were the Marquis of Rost in his normal state, he would only say: Don't go too far.

But at this moment, the Marquis of Rost frowned and rebuked him.

"Nonsense! Even if they stole something, a little lesson is enough! Tying them up and torturing them? What kind of behavior is this! Put them down right now!"

"what?"

"Father?"

Marquise Mara and Elena were stunned, almost thinking they had misheard.

Hasn't Marquis Rost always tacitly approved of their little actions towards Leah?

Chapter 29 Hoping for a marquisate is out of the question

The Marquis of Rost was aware of his wife and daughter's private actions against Lydia.

After all, his second wife, the Marchioness Mara, only cared about her own daughter and had no intention of dividing the inheritance with Lydia, the daughter of the first Marchioness.

But the Marquis of Rost had no interest in such matters; he had more important things to do, such as the future of his family.

These women had no idea that what they cared about—who was the lady or the real young lady in this family—was irrelevant.

If the Rothschild family continues its complete decline, the Rothschild family fortune they have fought so hard for will only amount to nothing more than a loaf of bread.

Short-sighted women are completely incapable of assessing the situation and considering long-term consequences.

Now, having finally secured an opportunity to impress His Majesty and the Bishop, I want Liya to dress up nicely and accompany me to His Majesty's banquet.

And then we see Leah tied up by her stepmother and stepsister? And she's wearing iron boots with perforated spikes on her feet.

Lia's face was all dirty; how could she possibly go to the banquet like that?

At this point, it was completely unimportant that Marquis Mara said that Lydia and the maid had gone to her study to steal things.

"Put Lia down right now!" Marquis Rost ignored the displeased Marquis Marla and his second daughter Elena beside him and walked straight toward Lia.

"Father..." Lia looked at her father, who had untied her ropes, with some surprise.

The last time this father treated his memories with such tenderness was probably ten years ago, before his mother passed away.

"Hmm, there are no injuries on your face or body, but the marks on your wrists are a bit troublesome. Can you still walk?" Marquis Rost examined Lydia's injuries.

The marks left on your wrists by ropes can be covered up with jewelry, and it's okay to wear more makeup if your eyes are red from crying.

What I care about most is Lia's foot. If she were to limp up to His Majesty and the bishop, it would be a huge disgrace to the Rost family.

Lia was never as cheerful as Elena, and she wasn't good at dressing up either. Now that she's also lame, things are even worse.

"Father, Father, I can still walk." Although Lia tried her best to appear as if nothing was wrong, the stinging pain in her feet still made her unsteady.

Seeing Lia's clumsy appearance, Marquis Rost grabbed her arm and said seriously, "No, you have to come with me to the church now to get some healing magic. Your appearance will definitely displease His Majesty and the bishop."

Who knows when we'll have the chance to get so close to His Majesty and the bishop again?

Lord Rost viewed this dinner party as an opportunity for his family's rise to power.

Healing magic is expensive but worthwhile. After saying that, he was about to pull Leah away, but Marquis Rost turned around and saw Marquis Marla blocking his way.

"My lord, what do you mean? Is Lia going to see His Majesty and the bishop?"

After listening to what the Marquis of Rost had just said, Lady Marquis Marla roughly understood why the Marquis of Rost had suddenly become concerned about Lydia.

“That’s right. His Majesty and the bishop have shown their appreciation by inviting me and Lia to a banquet tonight.” Marquis Rost frowned, looking displeased at the Marquis Marquis Mara blocking his way.

"Could it be because of the new tax she proposed?" This was the only reason Marquis Marla could think of.

“That’s right, it is…”

Before the Marquis of Rost could finish speaking, Elena stepped forward.

"That new tax wasn't Lia's idea; she copied it from your letters, Father, that she peeked into your study!"

"Why are you still saying things like that?"

The Marquis de Rost looked at his wife and second daughter with displeasure.

If Leah had been peeking at the letters in his study, how could he not have known? Those letters were given to him first.

Furthermore, the Marquis of Rost had no recollection of ever discussing the new tax with anyone.

Even if someone had an idea, no one would share it and let others show off. Who wouldn't want to please His Majesty and the Bishop? If others had such an opportunity, they would definitely do it secretly on their own.

“Father, but Liya was caught by Mother in the study. They were even trying to open your locked drawer. They must be…”

Elena was about to explain, but the Marquis of Rost had already given up on listening.

"Alright, stop blocking our way, Marla and Elena." Pushing Elena aside, Marquis Rost pulled Lia along and prepared to walk outside.

Seeing this, Elena immediately tugged at her mother beside her in a panic.

How could she not have imagined that if Lia were truly appreciated by His Majesty and the Bishop, her status in the Rost family would surpass that of herself and her mother?