The heavy oak door of the study swung open without a sound.
Julian Sterling stood by the fireplace, a drink in his hand. He was furious. Her father, Lord Reginald Beaumont, paced the room, his face a mask of fury.
Julian looked up, his handsome features twisted with anger when he saw her. "There you are. Hiding after your little display of dramatics."
Eleonora ignored him. Her gaze was fixed on the polished mahogany table between them. She walked forward and dropped the engagement ring.
It landed with a sharp, metallic clink that shattered the room's quiet.
Her father, Lord Reginald Beaumont, stopped pacing, his face red. "Eleonora! How could you just walk out? You've made us a laughingstock!"
She didn't spare him a glance. Her eyes were locked on Julian. "I have come to give you my answer."
Julian laughed. It was a condescending, patronizing sound. "An answer? There is nothing to answer. I have already made the best possible arrangement for you. You should be grateful."
He sauntered over to her. He loomed over her, his height a tool of intimidation. "I will marry Isabella. You should have accepted your place gracefully."
Eleonora looked at him with utter disdain. "My place?"
"As my most treasured mistress," he said, as if bestowing a great honor. "It is the best outcome you can hope for, especially after tonight's scandal."
A wave of nausea washed over her. She looked at her father, expecting outrage, a defense of her honor.
Instead, Lord Reginald nodded in agreement, his anger shifting to a desperate pragmatism. "Eleonora, Julian is thinking of your welfare. After what happened... at your age, it is a respectable position."
That was it. The moment her heart, already fractured, finally turned to dust.
Her voice was quiet, but each word was a shard of ice. "I, Eleonora Beaumont, will never be any man's mistress."
Julian's smile faded. His face hardened. "Don't be ungrateful. Who else would have you now? The whole capital is laughing at you!"
"I would rather have no one," she retorted, her voice gaining strength, "than a man who breaks his word and needs a woman's dowry to buy his way up in the army."
The truth of her words struck a nerve. His face flushed with anger. He raised his hand.
Eleonora didn't flinch. She didn't step back. She met his furious gaze with pure, undiluted contempt.
His hand froze in mid-air. He remembered where he was.
He slowly lowered his arm, smoothing his uniform jacket in a pathetic attempt to regain his composure. "You are forcing me to be unpleasant, Eleonora."
"Enough!" Lord Reginald slammed his hand on the desk, his face red with fury. "For the honor of this family, you will accept this arrangement!"
"Family honor?" A bitter laugh escaped Eleonora's lips. "The honor that was bought by selling your own daughter? The honor that was just trampled into the mud in front of all of society?"
She turned to the man who was once her father. "The moment you called this a 'respectable position,' you ceased to be my father."
Lord Reginald trembled with rage, pointing a shaking finger at her. "You... you ungrateful child!"
Eleonora took a deep breath, her gaze falling one last time on the ring glittering on the table. A relic of a dead dream.
She turned her back on them and walked toward the door.
"You will regret this, Eleonora." Julian's cold voice followed her. "You will come back, begging."
She didn't look back. Her hand closed around the cool brass of the doorknob.
A strange sense of peace settled over her. It was the feeling of a chain, worn for a decade, finally breaking.
She pulled the heavy door open. Light from the hallway flooded in, silhouetting her form.
She was alone. And for the first time, she was free.
The door clicked shut behind her, sealing away the stunned and furious shouts of the two men.
