A choked gasp from Isolde shattered the stunned silence.
She shrieked, a high, theatrical sound, and tried to cover her nearly naked body with her hands, a gesture that only drew more attention to her state of undress.
Damien, his face a mess of panic and fury, shoved her behind him. His first instinct was not shame, but rage directed at the architect of his humiliation.
"Are you insane?" he roared at Seraphina.
A slow, cold smile touched Seraphina's lips. It didn't reach her eyes. She let her gaze drift over the shocked faces of the servants, the horrified expressions of a few early-arriving wedding guests who had been drawn by the alarm. This was exactly what she wanted. No whispers, no rumors. Just the cold, hard, undeniable truth, laid bare for all to see.
Heavy, thundering footsteps echoed down the hall. Lord Reginald Beaumont, Damien's father, appeared, his face a thundercloud. Behind him, his wife, Lady Philippa, looked aghast. Her eyes took in the scene—the smoke, the frantic servants, her disheveled son, and the half-dressed girl hiding behind him.
Her gaze, sharp and venomous, landed on Seraphina.
"Is this the upbringing of the Hayes family?" Lady Philippa's voice was like shattering ice. "Setting fires for attention?"
Seraphina met her glare without flinching. Her own voice was quiet, yet it cut through the noise like a razor.
"Before my upbringing is put on trial, my lady, perhaps the Beaumonts should examine their own syllabus. Does it teach a groom to receive his bride's sister in his private chambers before the vows, or was that lesson reserved for Young Master Damien alone?"
The words hung in the air, a public slap to Lady Philippa's face. The woman's mouth opened, then snapped shut. She was speechless.
Damien finally found his voice, sputtering. "It's not what it looks like! Isolde... she was feeling unwell. I was just... comforting her." He licked his lips, a nervous tic that gave away his lie.
Isolde, ever the actress, immediately seized her cue. She began to sob, her shoulders shaking pitifully. "I felt so dizzy," she whimpered, clutching Damien's arm. "I only came to my future brother-in-law for help."
Seraphina's smile turned faintly sympathetic, which somehow made it more merciless.
"How devoted of him," she said. "Most young ladies in distress ask for smelling salts. But I suppose among the Beaumonts, a gentleman's chaise lounge and an open shirt are considered medical instruments."
The lie was so flimsy, so utterly absurd, that a few of the guests couldn't suppress snorts of derisive laughter. The servants exchanged knowing glances.
Seraphina took a single, deliberate step forward. Her eyes, cold and sharp as shards of obsidian, fixed on Isolde's perfectly flat stomach.
Two weeks before the wedding, Seraphina had seen Isolde slipping out of the village apothecary with her hood drawn low and one hand pressed to her belly. Lark, who had a cousin among the shop boys, had later whispered that the packet contained ginger drops for nausea and a discreet note addressed to the midwife.
Her voice was soft, conversational, yet it carried a deadly weight.
"Unwell?" Seraphina murmured. "Then perhaps we should send for a physician. Or would a midwife be more appropriate?"
Isolde's manufactured sobs died in her throat. The color drained from her face, leaving it a sickly, chalky white. Her hand flew instinctively to her abdomen, a gesture of pure, unconscious protection.
Damien froze. His jaw went slack. He stared at Seraphina, utterly blindsided. How could she possibly know?
Seraphina let the silence sharpen before she spoke again. "Careful, Isolde. A guilty hand is far more honest than a pretty mouth."
Lady Philippa's horrified gaze darted from Isolde's belly to her son's guilty face. The pieces clicked into place. The truth hit her with the force of a physical blow. She swayed, her body trembling with a rage so profound it left her breathless.
This was Seraphina's trump card. She knew Isolde had been secretly visiting an apothecary in the village. She had been waiting for the perfect moment to play it.
Backed into a corner, with dozens of eyes on him, Damien's composure finally shattered. The spoiled, coddled boy gave way to a petulant, cornered animal.
"So what if she is!" he shouted, his voice cracking. "Yes! Isolde is pregnant, and the child is mine! I love her! I was always going to marry her!"
The shameless declaration sucked the remaining air from the room. A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. The scandal was no longer just about infidelity. It was about a bastard heir.
Lord Reginald's face turned a shade of deep purple. With a roar of pure fury, he strode forward and struck his son across the face. The crack of the blow echoed in the sudden silence.
"You worthless fool!" he bellowed.
Lady Philippa stared at the weeping Isolde, her mind racing. A part of her was calculating, weighing the damage, but the dominant emotion was a deep, festering resentment toward the calm young woman who had orchestrated this disaster. It was Seraphina's fault. She must have been lacking, undesirable, to drive her son into another woman's arms.
Amid the shouting and the crying, a profound weariness settled over Seraphina. Her part was done. The bomb had been detonated.
She had no desire to watch the fallout.
Turning silently, she slipped through the throng of onlookers. No one noticed her go. All eyes were fixed on the screaming match, the family drama playing out on its smoky stage.
She walked down the long corridor, the pristine white roses arranged for her wedding now seeming to mock her. The silence of the hallway was a relief after the chaos of the suite.
Her feet ached in the tight, ornate slippers. She bent down, pulled them off, and left them on the cold marble floor. The stone was shockingly cold against her bare soles, the chill seeping into her bones, but it felt grounding. Real.
Behind her, she could hear Lord Reginald shouting orders, trying to contain the damage, to placate the guests. She heard Lady Philippa hiss a command to a nearby maid.
"Find that girl. Find Seraphina. She will not simply walk away from this."
But Seraphina was already gone. She moved with purpose through the labyrinthine manor, her bare feet making no sound. She was heading for the one place she knew would be quiet, the one place no one would think to look for a jilted bride.
The family chapel.
She had a plan. And this public humiliation was only the first step.
