"John Gilbert, you'll be getting quite the gift at the engagement banquet in three days."
Once the date was set, Morton threw himself into the preparations, handling every detail personally.
Even the tiara I would wear to the engagement, he flew to the States himself to bid on the crown a queen had worn on her eighteenth birthday.
I told him not to make such a spectacle of it. But he took my hand, let out a long, contented sigh, and said, "Ivy, this is the only way it feels real to me. The only way I know I'm not dreaming."
"You don't know what it was like. On the day of your engagement, I was overseas, standing on the highest rooftop I could find, staring in the direction of the Capital. I didn't dare come back. I didn't dare face you. I was terrified I wouldn't be able to control how badly I wanted you, and I'd end up hurting you."
Something surged inside my chest. For the first time, my heart truly stirred.
All this time, someone had loved me this deeply. And fate had been kind enough not to let me miss him.
John finally sensed the danger. He started coming to see me behind Morton's back.
"Ivy, how could you gamble away your happiness just to spite me?"
"You and my uncle aren't a match. He's an illegitimate son with a dark, vicious streak. Behind his back, everyone calls him the Grim Reaper. You really want to marry a man like that? You think that's going to make you happy?"
I slapped his reaching hand away and spoke without a shred of warmth.
"John, no matter how dark and vicious your uncle is, he'd never let his mistress strip me naked in front of a crowd."
"Marrying him beats marrying a backstabbing piece of trash any day. He's a real man."
The slap didn't anger John. If anything, it made him grin. He leaned in with that infuriating, shameless smile of his.
"So that's what this is about. You're jealous. I knew you couldn't let me go."
He paused, seemed to actually think for a moment, then spoke as if presenting a perfectly reasonable offer.
"How about this. Once Celeste has the baby, I'll marry you right away. She can stay at the villa out in the suburbs."
"And since you'd have the title of Mrs. Gilbert, you'd just have to tolerate sharing with Celeste. I'll spend Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with her, and Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays with you. That's one more day than she gets. Satisfied?"
I stared at the smug look plastered across his face and couldn't help but laugh out of sheer fury.
Who gave him the audacity? What made him think that I, the Oracle of our sect, the sole heir to the Chambers legacy, would cling to a rotten excuse for a man like him, desperate to be married off?
Just as his hand reached for me again, a foot came flying out of nowhere and slammed into his side, sending him skidding three yards across the floor.
Morton's voice cut through the air, cold enough to freeze blood.
"John. Did you forget what I told you? You dare disrespect your aunt?"
In one fluid motion, he closed the distance. His heavy leather shoe came down on John's hand and ground into it. John let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.
"Morton, you bastard! You dare lay a hand on me? Just wait until Grandfather gets back. He won't let this slide!"
Morton's gaze shifted. Something lethal flickered behind his eyes. He crouched down and patted John's cheek, almost gently. Every line of his face promised violence.
"Good. I'll give you three days to run to Daddy."
"And if you pull this again, I'll make you regret today's stupidity for the rest of your life."
Three days passed in a blink.
The engagement banquet had been arranged on short notice, but Morton's influence turned it into the event of the season, sending shockwaves through the entire Capital.
Every person of note in the city was in attendance.
I wore a couture gown, my arm linked through Morton's, as we walked toward Old Mr. Gilbert, seated in the place of honor.
The moment he saw me, the old man's eyebrows shot up, his smile so wide it carved deep lines across his face.
The master of ceremonies had just announced the start of the ceremony when John burst through the doors, his face twisted with rage, dragging Celeste behind him.
Celeste was weeping beautifully, tears rolling down her cheeks like rain on white petals.
"Miss Chambers, I've already given up fighting you for his hand. All I asked was to have my baby before marrying John. Why did you have to send people to kidnap me?"
As she spoke, Celeste turned to show the bruises mottling her face and the dark marks ringing her wrists.
John erupted. He charged straight at me, his hand cracking across my cheek before I could react.
"Ivy Chambers, how can you be so vicious?"
"You couldn't stand being dumped, so you seduced my uncle to get back at me. Then you had someone kidnap Celeste—you wanted to kill her and my child!"
"Let me make this clear: Celeste's baby will be the sole heir to the Gilbert family. You can marry my uncle all you want, but don't you dare set your sights on a single cent of what's ours."
Morton's eyes went bloodshot with fury. For once, John held his ground and refused to back down.
"Uncle Morton, Ivy is a woman I threw away. What gives you the right to marry her? Celeste is carrying my child, and you'd still protect some fortune-telling fraud? Do you want the Gilbert line to end?"
I caught Morton's arm before he could swing. Then I walked slowly toward John, letting my gaze drift past him to settle on Celeste. My voice was ice.
"John, are you certain the child in Celeste's belly is yours?"
"Instead of throwing a tantrum here, why don't you take your little mistress to a hospital? Find out whose baby she's actually carrying."
