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ita
ta could be ba
spering to inside the private lounge was my fiancé, Damian Harrison. They were togeth
n froze the bl
ng an inch from the ornate handle. The ivory silk of my wedding dress,
ing with a mix of nerves and de
t. His tone was low, thick with a desire that was sickeningly not for me. "Let her wai
drowning out the distant
screen inside. Damian stood pressed close to Katlin, his head bent toward her while
fell to
al keepsake and the blue token brides traditionally carried for good fortune. "I did it, Mama," I had whispered to it in the carriage
fool
e country manor," Damian continued, his voice a venomous caress
"But I can't wait, Damian. I'm already carrying
il
ed backward, my shoulder colliding with a decorative pedestal by the door. A
ds insid
d, his hair a mess. Behind him, Katlin clutched a robe to her chest, her
curdled into annoyance and contempt. "You he
cream. I d
of Damian pressed against Katlin was burned into my mind. A hot, searing anger beg
reasurer, had sent me away as a child and left me there to be raised far from the wealth and privilege of the capital. Years later,
sons for my sake, and Damian knew it. To him and people like him, I was still nothing more than
to survive being unwanted. That
ng through the porcelain shards, and walked back
Wren, who had gone to look for Damian and Katlin, was pale, her lips pre
or and stared at my reflection. Th
om my hair. My mother had sewn it herself, stitching tiny pearl
bra burning brightly in
doing?" Rose whispered,
ence of the room, I touched the e
ght in
os
of fire. I held it aloft, a torc
the magical fire alarms. A piercing shriek echoed through t
burst into the room, his face a mask of fury. He lun
nging out clear and cold, loud enough for
unced, my gaze locked
now sobbing theatrically in the doo
rd a shard of ice, "is busy enjoying
rison family's formidable housekeeper, Mrs. Gable, her fac
the burning veil drop to the expensive rug, where
he tragic footno
f the crowd and straightened my spine. This was
he stunned guests, gathered the soiled hem of my ridicu
now where
. Behind me was hell. Ahead, I woul
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