When She Rose From the Ashes (Natalie and Jensen) novel Chapter 367

Chapter 367 The Truth About Rachel

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Anna wept bitterly, her words dragging out the jagged pain of her past, but Baron’s face never softened.

“Get to the point.”

His cold eyes and the pressure radiating from him made her shiver. She knew if she tried to dance around it, he would kill her without hesitation.

“I’m saying it already!” she sobbed. “My parents learned I had dwarfism–that I’d always be like this. To them I was nothing but a disgrace and a burden. They didn’t want to waste money on

my me, so they lied, said they’d buy me something to eat, then abandoned me on the street. If aunt Rachel hadn’t found me, I’d have been sold off to traffickers. She gave me a second life.

“She was working as a maid in the Stone household back then. Because she once saved Mrs. Stone’s life, she was treated well and paid generously. My aunt never married, never had children. She raised me as her own, even hired help and tutors for me. But because of my height I was bullied endlessly at school, so she brought teachers to the house.

“When she realized I had a knack for computers, she found people to train me in hacking. She never forced me to do anything… until the accident with Jensen. When Natalie sought out Witch Doctor, my aunt finally called on me.”

Anna’s voice faltered, her eyes glazing over at the memory. “She said I was small, hard to notice, and good enough to slip past security. All I had to do was tamper with Witch Doctor’s records–diagnosis and donation files–and she’d give me a fortune to travel the world. She raised me for over twenty years. Without her, I wouldn’t exist. For her, even killing would’ve been easy.”

Baron’s face grew darker by the second. His supposedly airtight security, undone by this tiny woman who had rewritten Natalie’s fate.

His voice turned sharp. “Who gave you Witch Doctor’s location?”

He’d taken every precaution at the time to hide his true identity. Even Natalie hadn’t known. But somehow Anna had found him.

“I tracked him myself,” she whispered. “I knew about Jensen’s operation. I followed a woman into the hospital, let everyone think I was her daughter. I saw Witch Doctor enter the operating room. After the surgery, when he filed the records, I struck. He was exhausted–someone said Natalie had collapsed from post–op infection, so he rushed out. That was my chance.”

Baron stiffened. He remembered it now. After Jensen’s surgery he’d been bone–tired, but when

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Chapter 367 The Truth About Rachel

he heard Natalie had collapsed, he rushed to her side, leaving the files barely secured.

“You were in my room when I locked those records in the cabinet?” His voice was low, dangerous.

“Yes.”

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Baron’s fists clenched. He prided himself on his awareness, his skill–and yet she had hidden in his own quarters without him realizing.

The truth of how his files had been altered was finally clear. But another thought chilled him.

“So,” he asked slowly, “you saw Witch Doctor’s face as well?”

Anna’s shoulders trembled. “No! I didn’t. He did take off his mask for a moment, but his back was to me. I wanted to look, but I couldn’t risk it. I swear I never saw.”

Baron studied her eyes, searching for a flicker of deceit. At last he was convinced–she truly hadn’t discovered his secret. Only then did he breathe again.

His tone hardened once more. “Then tell me this–why did Rachel hate the Stone family? How did she know so much about Natalie’s life? Do you have eyes planted around her?”

Anna shook her head frantically. “No. None of that. My aunt told me… The Summers family knew Natalie wasn’t theirs. They knew she wasn’t their child. But my aunt gave them money- and other benefits I don’t know about. In return, they agreed to keep her, to treat her cruelly, to make her life a living hell.”

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