Ava Moody POV:
My hand, holding the bracelet, was steady. I stared directly at Alton. The skin on my wrist was cold where the moonstones had rested.
He frowned, confused by my gesture. He expected me to give it to Blanche.
"Since it is Lord Whitehead's command," I said, my voice low but every word clear and sharp, "this 'worthless trinket' should be delivered by your own hand."
It was a silent rebellion. An accusation.
Blanche's expression soured. She didn't like the focus shifting back to Alton's role in this.
Alton's eyes darkened with a dangerous light. He felt my challenge. He took a step closer, and the powerful aura of a Vorrath male pressed down on me, making my lungs feel tight.
He didn't take the bracelet. Instead, he said, "It seems three years of comfort have made you forget your place, Ava."
Before he could continue, Annie—who had been cowering behind me—suddenly stepped forward, her voice shaking but fierce. "That's not fair! Lady Blanche is the one who uses her station to steal from others. She has no right to demand my mistress's treasure. If anyone is forgetful of their place, it is she, not my mistress!"
Blanche's face flushed with fury. She spun to Alton, pointing a trembling finger at Annie. "Do you hear this insolence? This lowly slave dares to lecture me about rank and decency. She is a disrespectful wretch who must be taught a lesson immediately!"
Alton's gaze shifted to Annie, cold and dismissive. He gave a slight, cruel nod. "It seems you are right, Blanche. Such a mouth needs to be silenced." Then he turned his head, his voice ringing with cruel command. "Guards! Take this disrespectful slave and give her fifty lashes!"
All the blood drained from Annie's face. She began to tremble violently. Fifty lashes would kill a girl as slight as her.
My heart felt like it was being squeezed in a fist. I couldn't breathe. He was using Annie's life to break me.
"No! Don't!" I cried out, my composure shattering as I moved to shield her.
Two towering Vorrath guards were already there, their large hands clamping down on Annie's arms.
Annie looked at me, her eyes wide with terror and filling with tears, but she bit her lip and didn't beg.
"Alton, please, she did nothing wrong!" I begged him, shedding the last of my pride.
He watched my breakdown with a cold, detached expression, as if he were enjoying the show. "Now you beg? You forced my hand, Ava. It would be better for you to learn obedience."
Blanche watched from the side, a smug smile on her face, savoring my pain and helplessness.
I looked at Annie being dragged away, her eyes filled with despair. I couldn't let her die for me.
I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, all the fight had gone out of me. There was only a dead, empty calm.
"I'll give it to her." I turned and shoved the bracelet into Blanche's hand.
My voice was terrifyingly steady. "Here is the bracelet. Let her go."
Blanche snatched it, her victory complete. Alton gestured to his lover. "Put it on." She obeyed instantly, fastening the bracelet around her own wrist. It was too large for her, hanging loosely, but she didn't care.
She shook her wrist at me, a deliberate, taunting gesture. The light from the moonstones felt like a physical blow.
Alton waved a dismissive hand at the guards. They released Annie, shoving her so hard she fell to the stone floor.
Ignoring her own fall, Annie scrambled to my feet, grabbing the hem of my dress and sobbing quietly.
I helped her up, feeling as if all the strength had been drained from my body.
Alton looked at us, his eyes devoid of pity. He turned to Blanche. "See? That wasn't so hard. Let's go. No need to waste any more time on these little matters."
He wrapped his arm around Blanche's waist and they turned to leave, as if the entire, brutal episode had been nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
As she passed me, Blanche deliberately bumped my shoulder. "Remember your place, human," she whispered.
They walked away, their figures receding down the long hall, leaving me with nothing but the sound of Annie's weeping.
I had lost. Completely. I had lost not just my treasure, but the last shred of my dignity as a person.
I held the trembling Annie in my arms, and for the first time, I felt an emotion for Alton Whitehead that was not love.
It was pure, undiluted hate.
Caspian Montgomery POV:
When that shadow messenger slipped into the doorway of my study, the flames in the hearth had turned to ash. He knelt down and reported the situation to me in hurried and brief tones.
I listened to his report, and he said that when Eva held the crying girl in her arms, he saw a flash of light in her eyes—there was a look of hatred in them, one that directly pointed at Alton.
I put down the wine glass in my hand, pressing the surface of the crystal cup with force until a fine crack appeared on it. Outside, the moon hung coldly, identical to the one from three years ago. Back then, I stood on the city wall, watching her release paper lanterns into the sky. Her laughter was clear, her face radiating carefree happiness. Our eyes met in an instant, and something within me shattered suddenly, something that never healed. I proposed the next morning at dawn, but the response came quickly: she was already bound by a contract with Whithead. I told myself to be patient, to wait until the contract expired before pursuing her. I was wrong.
Tonight, she was humiliated, and her dignity was completely destroyed. As long as her wounds have not yet healed, I will not approach her.
I will stay in the shadows, observe, and wait for the right moment.
When she's ready, I'll give her a choice she can't refuse. Not as a prince, not as a lord, but as the man who loved her for three years in the darkness.
Alton will pay for this. They all will pay for this.
