Jessica studied the woman before her.


    The woman''s face was lined with sorrow, and her shoulders slumped as if the weight of the world had ground her down.


    With a voice softer than her usual sharpness, Jessica said, "If you''re looking for a way to keep going, step inside. The life here is simple, but no one will hurt you ever again."


    At that, the woman''s tears spilled over, flowing like an unstoppable river breaking through a dam.


    Her name was Cam Moore. Once upon a time, she and her husband, Soren Carter, had owned a thriving dye shop in the capital. They weren''t among the wealthiest, but their lives werefortable. Their marriage was harmonious, and their little family wasplete with a cherished daughter.


    However, her daughter''s birth had been harrowing. The blood loss nearly took Cam''s life. While the midwife had managed to save her, the verdict had been clear: she would never bear another child.


    Cam had grieved deeply over the news, but Soren had always reassured her.


    "One daughter is enough," he had said with a smile. "She is our treasure. Besides, I have two younger brothers. They''ll carry on the family name."


    Takingfort in his words, Cam devoted herself to her role as the eldest sister-inw, using their wealth to arrange good marriages for her husband''s brothers. Over time, both younger men had wives and children of their own. They held Cam in the highest regard and sought her advice on all family matters.


    However, the world they had built crumbled a year ago. Soren and their daughter had traveled to the countryside to visit rtives, only to encounter a band of ruthless bandits. When word reached Cam, it wasn''t her lively husband and sweet child who returned, but their lifeless, battered bodies. The grief had been unbearable-her very reason for living was torn away in an instant.


    She might have sumbed to despair, but the duty to care for her elderly parents and inws had kept her going. She told herself she still had a purpose, a responsibility to honor her husband''s family.


    Her inws, however, didn''t share her sense of loyalty. With Soren gone and no son to carry on the family name, they saw Cam as a burden, one better cast off.


    In less than a year, they stripped her of everything her home, the dye shop she and her husband had built together, and every coin she had saved. Then they cast her out and used her of beating her mother-inw, an usation they backed with false witnesses and carefully ced bruises. The case went before the local authorities.


    Despite her pleas of innocence, the testimonies of servants and her brothers-inw''s wives sealed her fate.


    Banished from her husband''s home and branded a criminal, Cam turned to her own family for help. However, her elder brother and his wife saw only disgrace in her misfortune. They refused her shelter, ming her for tarnishing the Moore family''s name. "I thought about ending it," Cam admitted, her voice trembling as she recounted her pain.


    "What reason was there to go on? But I couldn''t do it-I couldn''t let them win so easily. If I die, I''d only be giving them exactly what they want. No, I want to live. I want to take back the dye shop that belonged to my husband and me. I want to hold my head high again. I want to live better than any of them could ever dream.


    "I''ve been cast out for over a month. I''d heard of Skye Embroidery, but with the reputation I''ve gained-beating my mother-inw, they say I thought there was no way you''d ept someone like me. I didn''t believe there could be a ce in this world with such kindness toward women."


    Her gaze flickered toward Violet, her eyes red-rimmed but bright with a faint glimmer of hope.


    "Then I heard of Lady Jessica. Inovelbin


    thought about it for days. If someone like her could find refuge


    I


    heybe....just maybe, I could try


    my luck."


    Violet studied her for a moment before asking, "Where have you been staying all this time?"


    "A woman who worked at our dye shop took me in," Cam admitted. "But her home is small, and I didn''t want to burden her any further."


    The woman who had taken Cam in was probably facing me from both Cam''s natal and husband''s families.


    Violet nodded. "Then stay. There''s a ce for you here."


    Cam froze.


    They were epting her, just like that? Didn''t they need to investigate?


    "But... I have a bad reputation outside."


    Jessica scoffed. "Reputations are worth nothing. You think your bad name is worse than mine? They didn''t hesitate to take me in."


    Selma chimed in, "She''s right. That''s the infamous Lady Jessica for you. Her family dug up the truth about her past and took her back to the marquis'' estate."


    Cam''s mouth fell open slightly in surprise. If Jessica had been taken back to her noble family, why was she still here at Skye Embroidery? Leona was leaning next to Violet. She sniffled and wiped at her red-rimmed eyes. "Cam, I''m Leona. Wee to Skye Embroidery."


    Cam didn''t know Leona''s true


    identity yet, since even though


    Leona had arrived at the workshop, the staff hadn''t made any public announcement.


    "You''re living here too?" she asked.


    Leona smiled and replied, "That''s right. For now, this is my home. Let''s be friends. You worked in a dye shop-can you embroider as well?" Cam nodded; the faintest glimmer of hope flickered in her eyes.


    "I can. I can do both."