Julian released her wrist as if he'd touched something foul, a flicker of disgust crossing his features. He withdrew a silk pocket square and deliberately wiped his fingers, the gesture more insulting than a slap. The red imprint of his hand throbbed on her skin.
"A divorce is impossible," he stated, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. It was a fact, like the sky being blue or the sun setting in the west. "You will carry the Astor name for the rest of your life. You will live in this house and be reminded every single day of the sister you took from me. That is your penance."
The words were a life sentence. The hope that had carried her through the party, that had fueled her desperate act of defiance, evaporated, leaving a cold, heavy dread in her stomach. A dry, choked laugh escaped her lips. It was a sound of pure despair.
"What do you want from me, Julian?" she asked, her voice hollow. "What will it take for you to just let me go?"
He began to circle her slowly, his movements fluid and predatory. "Let you go? Who, then, will let Isabelle go? She is dead, Seraphina. Because of you."
Every word was a nail in her coffin. She knew any explanation, any plea, was useless. He had built a fortress of grief and hatred, and she was the prisoner trapped inside its walls. In the suffocating silence of the grand ballroom, a wild, reckless thought took root in the barren soil of her desperation.
If logic wouldn't save her, perhaps madness would.
She stopped his pacing by meeting his eyes, her own gaze suddenly sharp and unwavering. "Fine," she said, the word brittle. "You want to hear it? I'll say it." She took a breath, the air burning her lungs. "I did it. I killed Isabelle."
The false confession hung in the air between them. Julian froze mid—stride. For a single, fleeting moment, shock registered in his eyes, a crack in his icy facade. Then it was gone, consumed by a wave of triumphant, blazing hatred. He had been right all along.
He lunged forward, his hand clamping onto her jaw, forcing her head up. His face was inches from hers, his breath hot with whiskey and rage. "Say it again," he commanded, his voice a low, dangerous rumble.
She closed her eyes, shutting out the sight of his face. It made the lie easier to tell. "I killed her," she repeated, her voice a monotone. "Now, will you sign the papers?"
His grip on her jaw was bruising, but a strange, sick satisfaction dawned in his eyes. He had broken her. He had finally extracted the truth he'd always known. He let her go, shoving her back a step.
"Good," he said, the word laced with venom. He looked at her as if she were something he'd scraped off his shoe. "You finally admitted it."
He turned his back on her and walked over to where the divorce agreement lay scattered on the floor. He bent down, picked up the main document, and strode toward the massive stone fireplace where a low fire still burned. Without a moment's hesitation, he tossed the papers into the flames.
The edges curled, turned brown, and then erupted into a bright, hungry orange.
"But that doesn't mean I'm letting you go," he said, his back still to her as he watched her hope turn to ash. "The game is just beginning."
He walked out of the ballroom without another word, his footsteps echoing on the marble. The heavy doors swung shut behind him with a sound of finality, like a tomb being sealed.
The strength drained from Seraphina's body. Her legs gave out, and she crumpled to the cold floor, a marionette with its strings cut. A violent tremor wracked her frame, a delayed reaction to the horror of what she had just done. She stared at the dying embers in the fireplace, at the last fluttering specks of gray ash that had been her one chance at freedom.
She hadn't bought her escape. She had just handed her jailer the key and invited him to lock the door forever.
