The massive oak doors of the Ashbourne estate swung open.
Conversations died instantly. The string quartet playing in the corner seemed to miss a note. Hundreds of eyes locked onto me.
I smoothed the silk of my emerald gown and walked straight into the ballroom.
"Is that Aurora?" a woman whispered to my left, her champagne flute pausing halfway to her mouth.
"She looks entirely different," a man muttered back, staring openly. "I thought she was exiled."
I ignored them, keeping my chin high. I scanned the crowded room for Grandpa Arthur, hoping to pay my respects and leave.
Instead, a figure in a fragile white dress stepped directly into my path.
Ivy.
"Sister," she whispered, her voice trembling violently.
Before I could even blink, thick tears spilled down her cheeks, ruining her perfect makeup. She shrank back, wrapping her arms around herself as if my mere presence terrified her.
Right on cue, my personal fan club of critics surrounded her.
"Are you proud of yourself, Rory?" Adrian barked, shoving his way past a passing waiter to stand in front of Ivy. "You haven't been here five minutes and you're already making her cry."
"I didn't say a single word to her, Adrian," I pointed out, my voice deadly calm.
Ryan shook his head, looking at me with pure disappointment. "Just stop causing trouble, Rory. You've been gone for three years. Don't ruin your grandfather's night with your bitterness."
Ethan stepped up next to Ivy, placing a highly visible, protective hand on her waist.
"Apologize to her. Right now," Ethan demanded.
I stared at the three men guarding a girl who was actively faking a breakdown.
"Apologize for what, Ethan?" I asked, freezing the air between us. "For breathing the same air as her? For wearing a nicer dress?"
Ivy sobbed louder, burying her face against Ethan's tailored suit. "I just missed you, Rory. I wanted to welcome you home. I planned this whole party hoping you would come."
"Save the performance," I told her, crossing my arms. "The press photographers are over by the buffet. You're wasting your tears on an empty corner."
Adrian's face turned completely red. He took a threatening step toward me.
"How dare you speak to her like that?" my brother yelled. "After everything she's done to keep this family together! She cried for weeks when you left!"
"She tore this family apart," I corrected him, refusing to back up. "And you were all too stupid to see it."
A collective gasp rippled through the nearby guests. People were openly staring now, waiting for the explosion.
Ethan glared at me, his jaw tight. "You used to have a heart, Aurora. Now you're just cruel."
"I used to be a doormat," I replied, meeting his gaze without flinching. "I used to beg for your approval. Now, I just don't care about your opinions."
Ryan stepped forward, holding his hands up like a referee. "You can't just walk back in here and act like you own the place. You owe everyone an explanation for what you did."
"I owe you absolutely nothing, Ryan," I said. "You made your choice three years ago. Live with it."
A waiter in a crisp black vest paused beside our tense circle. He held a silver tray with a single crystal glass.
"Red wine, miss?" he asked, extending the tray directly toward me.
My throat felt incredibly dry from the long flight and the shouting. I picked up the glass by the stem.
"Thank you," I said.
The waiter turned swiftly and vanished into the crowd.
"We aren't done talking," Ethan demanded, releasing Ivy to point a finger at my chest. "You are going to fix this."
I took a small sip of the wine. It tasted bitter, metallic.
I lowered the glass, frowning at the dark liquid.
A sudden wave of intense heat rushed up my neck.
"Are you even listening to me?" Ethan snapped.
The chandelier lights blurred into blinding streaks of yellow. The classical music warped into a low, buzzing static in my ears.
My fingers went entirely numb.
The heavy crystal glass slipped from my grip.
It shattered sharply against the marble floor. Dark red liquid splashed upward, completely soaking the front of Ivy's pristine white dress.
Ivy screamed, jumping back as the red stains spread like blood across the fabric.
"Rory!" Adrian yelled, grabbing my shoulder and shoving me backward.
I stumbled, my knees buckling. The room spun in violent, nauseating circles.
"I'm so sorry!" Ivy cried out, frantically wiping at the ruined dress. "It's okay, Adrian! Don't hurt her! I don't blame her. She's just angry with me. It was an accident."
"That wasn't an accident," Ethan snarled, glaring at me with pure disgust. "She threw it right at you."
"I didn't," I mumbled, trying to steady myself against a tall cocktail table. My tongue felt thick and useless.
"We all saw you drop it on purpose!" Ryan shouted, drawing even more attention from the horrified partygoers.
Camera flashes began to go off in the distance. The press had finally noticed the commotion.
"The wine," I forced the words out, pressing a trembling hand to my forehead. "Someone put something in it. I feel dizzy."
Adrian scoffed loudly, his voice dripping with contempt. "Are you actually trying to play the victim right now? After you just assaulted your sister in front of hundreds of people?"
"I'm telling the truth," I insisted, my vision narrowing to a dark tunnel.
"You wouldn't know the truth if it slapped you in the face," Ethan said, pulling out a handkerchief to hand to Ivy. "You're a liar, Aurora. You always have been."
Ivy leaned heavily against Ethan, crying softly into his shoulder. "Please, don't yell at her anymore. I'll just go upstairs and change. It's fine."
"It's not fine," Adrian snapped, waving a hand at a passing guard. "Security needs to escort her out. She's clearly unstable and dangerous."
I tried to stand up straight, to defend myself, but my legs flatly refused to hold my weight.
The floor tilted sharply beneath my feet.
Someone had drugged me. Right in the middle of the ballroom.
And not a single person in my family was going to help me. They were just going to watch me fall.
My vision went completely black.
I braced for the hard impact of the marble floor, but it never came.
A pair of strong, unfamiliar arms caught me firmly around the waist, pulling me flush against a solid chest.
"I've got you, Mrs. Draven," a deep, dangerous voice murmured directly into my ear.
