Adeline ransacked the estate.
She went through the grand rooms first, the ones meant to impress with their intricate chandeliers and lavish decor—except now, they were nothing but hollow remnants of past glory. Nothing useful.
So she moved to the smaller rooms.
The ones not meant for noble children.
And really, that was fitting for the Richmonds. She assumed the worst of them without hesitation. They had never been good people—not to her, and certainly not to her mother.
She checked each cramped space, scanning every inch, until her gaze landed on a room at the very end of the hall.
Something about it made her pause.
The door was old, with a handle that was slightly rusted, the kind of place that belonged to a servant—not a noble daughter.
Adeline's gut twisted.
Her mother had been forced to live here.
Her mother—the woman who should have been treasured, who should have been respected—had been locked away in a place like this.
