My spine stiffens. “Luna’s doing well for herself.”
“Oh, of course she is. So eager.” The sweetness in her voice is syrupy enough to choke on. “But we both know how hard it was for you, living under the weight of your parents’ legacy. Such a burden for someone so young. And now poor Luna is trying to shoulder it alone.” She sighs again, light and artificial. “You were always the natural choice to carry their work forward. It seems almost cruel to let your sister struggle when you could step in so easily. One word from me to Alexander, and it’s done.”
“I haven’t decided if—”
A laugh rings out behind us, raw and unpolished, slicing clean through the room’s carefully curated murmur. It doesn’t belong here. It never did.
“Mother, will you let the poor girl breathe.”
Rowe Darkmoor steps into view, and even I have to admit, the sanctuary work has been good to him. The Rowe I knew wore quiet devotion like a second skin, but this man? Strength teems beneath the perfect cut of his suit, raw and tempered, no longer something to be contained but carried. Still, when his eyes find mine, deep blue and painfully familiar, I feel the same rupture inside my chest. That quiet, unwavering belief in me, and in the version that only ever lived in his mind.
“Darling!” Vivienne’s eyes light up. “I thought you were too busy with your pet projects to attend.”
“My work at the creature sanctuary is important, Mother.” His gaze doesn’t waver from mine. “The griffin rehabilitation program saw major breakthroughs this month.”
“Of course.” A dismissive flick of her fingers, as if his work is nothing more than a passing hobby. “Though I’m so pleased you made time. Aria and I were just discussing her return to Darkmoor Industries.”
“I should really check on Luna,” I say quickly, scanning the ballroom for an escape.
“Nonsense! You two haven’t had a proper conversation in ages.” She smiles tightly, her gaze flicking between us. “You were such good friends once.”
“I’m sure Dominic would be thrilled to see us catching up,” Rowe says dryly.
Vivienne doesn’t so much as blink. “Well, I don’t see him here, do I? And I simply must speak with your father about the security arrangements. I can’t just leave Aria standing alone. You’ll keep her company, won’t you?”
“Really, I’m fine—”
“Wonderful.” Her fingers dig gently into my arm. “You two catch up.”
An awkwardness hangs between us as her heels click away across marble. Rowe shifts his weight, and I take another sip of champagne, letting the bubbles burn down my throat.
“I missed you at the Academy spring fundraiser,” he says finally.
“That’s nice.” I scan the crowd, hoping to spot Luna or literally anyone else.
“I wrote to you about that. About a lot of things, actually.”
The genuine hurt in his tone makes me want to claw my own skin off. “I’ve been busy.”
“Too busy to respond to a single letter? Not even a word to let me know you were okay?”
“What did you expect, Rowe? Some heartfelt update from the edge of grief? Updates on broken dreams and childhood trauma? Sweet little notes from the edge of sanity?” I flick my gaze toward him. “I used them to start fires.”
He flinches, and for a moment, I hate myself for it.
“That’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair,” I snap. “Shouldn’t you know that better than anyone?”
He exhales slowly, like he’s holding back a dozen things he’ll never say. “I thought . . . we were still friends, at least.”
“Friends?” I arch a brow, letting cruelty sculpt my smile. “Is that what we’re calling it? All those charity galas where you’d conveniently appear at my table? The winter formal where you spent the entire night watching me dance with Dom? At least pretend to have some dignity.”
His expression falters. “I never hid how I felt.”
“No, you just hid everything else. Tell me, how’s the sanctuary? Must be nice having a convenient escape from all . . .” I gesture broadly at the opulent room, “this. Some of us didn’t have that luxury.”
I see the hit land in the way he stills, in how his hands clench at his sides. The same hands that once steadied mine during lab work, when everyone else was too afraid to partner with the infamous Ellis legacy.
