Not with cruelty, not even with triumph, but with something far more dangerous.
Certainty.
I turned onto my side, burying my face into the pillow as frustration tightened in my chest.
Why him?
Why did it have to be him?
Of all the men in the world, why did my body react to the one man responsible for destroying everything I had ever known?
The sky outside brightened slowly, pale silver light creeping across the room.
Eventually I forced myself out of bed.
The estate felt strangely quiet at this hour. Most of the staff had not yet begun their morning routines, leaving the long hallways wrapped in soft silence.
I moved through them slowly, barefoot against the cold marble floors.
The stillness gave me too much time to think.
Too much time to remember.
My father had walked these same corridors countless times. His voice used to echo through these halls during late night meetings with advisors and allies.
Now that voice is gone. The anger surged again, sharp and familiar.
I pushed open one of the tall glass doors leading to the gardens.
Cool morning air greeted me instantly.
The world outside looked washed clean after the storm. Dew clung to the hedges and flowers lining the pathways, and the faint scent of wet earth drifted through the air.
For a moment, the quiet beauty of it almost made everything feel normal again.
Almost.
I stepped onto the stone pathway and began walking.
Past the fountain.
Past the long hedges trimmed into perfect shapes.
Past the iron gate that overlooked the distant hills beyond the estate walls.
My fingers brushed the cold metal as I leaned against it.
The world outside these walls felt impossibly far away now.
Everything I had known was gone and I was left trapped in the orbit of a man who refused to let me escape.
A quiet sound behind me made my heart jump.
Footsteps.
Slow and controlled.
I didn’t turn immediately.
