Page 139 of Brutal Heir

My heart stopped. “She’s my⁠—”

Sebastian’s hand squeezed my neck again—harder this time.

Startled, I turned to look at him, but his face was unreadable as he kept his gaze trained forward.

Did I imagine it?

The woman continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “It broke my heart when I learned she’d been murdered.”

Murdered?

The champagne flute slipped from my fingers and shattered into a thousand crystalline shards against the marble floor.

CHAPTER 38

SABRINA

The world stopped.

The gasps from surrounding guests. The music. The servants rushing forward with a dustpan.

The blood rushing in my ears muted it all.

Murdered.

She’d said murdered.

Sebastian’s hand closed over my upper arm.

I turned my head to stare up at him. His lips moved, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying.

The woman’s face came into view. She gestured wildly as she shook her head.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I focused on what she was saying.

“My dear, I’m so sorry to have startled you with such ghastly gossip. Please pay an old woman no mind.” She nodded toward Sebastian and made to turn away, but I snatched at her forearm.

“What did you mean? She was murdered?”

The woman gave Sebastian an anxious glance before waving her hand, causing her jeweled bracelets to jangle. “It was years ago. I don’t remember.”

Stepping closer and placing my body between hers and Sebastian’s, I tightened my hold on her arm. “Yes, you do. Please tell me.”

“There was a man who was showing her a great deal of attention. Abriana wasn’t interested. Then next thing we all knew, she disappeared. There was no trace of her. People assumed…”

I leaned forward as I squeezed her arm again to encourage her to keep talking. “Assumed…?”

She sighed. “People assumed…because of who her family was…that she’d been murdered.”

This was all too much.

“What do you mean, because of who her family was?”

The woman looked at Sebastian and then at the people behind her.

Pretending to see someone, she hurried away, her parting words floating over her shoulder. “I’m sorry, my dear. I see someone I need to talk to.”

I moved to chase her, but Sebastian’s grip on my arm stopped me.