“But what about the letters I sent to you? Do you not care, after all I said?”
William’s eyes, cold and unyielding, met hers.
“Your letters said all I needed to know.”
She flinched as though struck, breath catching.
“You mean… you read what I wrote, and it meant nothing to you?”
“Enough, Violet.” He lifted a hand sharply, cutting her off.
“I have responsibilities, to my parents, to my title. I cannot squander them on folly.”
His jaw hardened. “I am engaged now. To a woman of good breeding.”
For a moment the garden spun around her.
The roses, the air, the very world seemed to press down like iron.
Her parents’ warnings rang in her ears,Lords make promises easily, Violet. He will break your heart.
And now, here was the proof.
“My parents warned me,” she whispered. “They said you would break my heart.”
Her eyes, bright with unshed tears, lifted to his.
“And they were right. You, William Ashford, are a coward.”
Fury snapped across his features.
“Do you truly believe, Violet, that you ever had a chance with me? That an earl’s heir would cast aside duty for a servant’s daughter? You were… amusement. A passing fancy. Nothing more.”
The cruelty sliced through her, deeper than any blade.
For a moment, she could not breathe.
Her hand lifted to her mouth, stifling a sound, whether a sob or a disbelieving laugh, she did not know.
When she lowered it, her voice was steady.
“You are a liar,” she whispered, meeting his gaze one last time.
“You were never my friend. You were never who I thought you were. And you were never mine.”
For one suspended heartbeat, neither of them moved.
She turned and fled before her legs could betray her.
The sky split as she ran, as if it felt her heartbreak and wept with her.
The first drops of rain struck her cheeks, mingling with her tears.
She did not know where she was going until the oak rose before her, looming through the downpour, their tree.
She stumbled to its trunk, her skirts sodden, her hair plastered to her face.
The carved initials William had etched there the day he declared he loved her, swearing they were forever, stared back at her, blurred by rain.
