CHAPTER 29
“Where is she?”
Cassian stormed through the house, completely aware that his mother was following him. He could feel her smile on the back of his neck, and he knew in that moment that he truly hated her.
“I do not know,” she repeated. “Perhaps she has finally seen sense and has left. I would have done the same, given the chance.”
“Then you are fortunate, for if you do not tell me where she is, you will be sent away immediately.”
“Of course, you would threaten to do that to your mother. After everything I have done for you, you would be so cruel as to send me away.”
“And what, pray tell, have you done for me?” he snapped. “I have spent my life in misery, trying desperately to make you love me again, even though I knew you never would. I have had to shoulder the blame that you placed upon me as a boy, and it hasruinedme. Why would I be grateful for that?”
“I never told anyone,” she seethed. “You killed the man I loved, and I never told anyone. I could have had you locked away for the rest of your life or worse, but I did not. I have been cordial to your excuse for a wife, even accepted her. I am a good person, Cassian.”
“If that is what you must tell yourself,” he bit out, before turning away and calling for Adelaide again.
He was trembling from the effort to maintain his composure. He wanted to scream at his mother, to tell her that she had ruined his life and that he would never recover, but he did not want to give her the satisfaction. He knew what he would do: find his wife, promise to never act as he had again, and then send his mother where she could no longer hurt them.
But he had to find Adelaide first.
“Where is she?” he barked. “And if you do not think that I will make good on my threat, then you are more than welcome not to tell me.”
She sighed dramatically, a glint in her eyes. He knew that look; it was one of deception. But he knew he could find the truth in it.
“If you must know,” she said slowly, “I saw her climb into Hargrave’s carriage. When you left, she smiled at me and said that she could at last be with the man she truly loves.”
The thought sent searing heat through him. He knew that Adelaide hated Hargrave, but the thought of her in his arms made white-hot rage surge within him.
“That is not true, and you know it. It does not matter how angry she was with me; she would never?—”
“Wouldn’t she? Tell me, Cassian, how well do you know her?”
“Well enough to know that she would never do that. She respects our marriage, and it is clear to me that you do not.”
He walked away, only to stop by the front door. His butler was standing there, facing away but watching them out of the corner of his eye.
“Have her sent away,” he instructed. “She can be anywhere but here. I just want her gone before I return.”
“Cassian,” his mother called. “You do not mean that.”
“Oh, I most certainly do.”
Regret filled her eyes, but he did not give her time to explain herself.
He no longer cared. He had given her years to fix what she had been so determined to break, and since she was never going to change, he had to remove her from his life.
“She has gone to the village,” she shouted to him as he walked out.
At last, she had given him the truth, but it changed nothing. He would give Adelaide the chance to convince him to let her stay, but as far as he was concerned, he was never going to see her again.
He had let her manipulate him for too long, and it had led to him losing Adelaide. He deserved the blame, but he was not alone in it.
The carriage took him to the village, and when he spotted one outside the tavern, he hammered his fist against the ceiling to signal the driver to stop. He leaped out and dashed inside.
The patrons turned to him with a look he hardly ever saw.
“Have you finished conducting your business early?” the owner asked.
