Cold Vows

EN's

t didn't bel

mers. For those who clung to ho

cling. He

e married Se

. Not because he cared for l

tive way to destroy the family th

neath him. The city belonged to him now. Or it would soon enough. T

e ice swirling in his whiskey glass.

buzzed on

from his

kfast. Spent thirty mi

didn'

her every move, but to keep tabs. Seraphina was too clever

nd out e

he wouldn't bre

ses was expanding globally. A partnership with the Blakes-a merger-was mea

, Seraphina's father,

ofessionally. But p

le of cooking books. Triggered an investigati

emembered that

d under pressure and d

d been harass

built collapse while the Blak

Sera

signer gowns. Spoken about charity w

ated her

t she became the symbol of everything h

years later, seeking "unity" thro

n sai

ause he

way to dismantle an em

into the apartment-sleek, cold, minimalist.

the m

dinners. For the occasional press

wasn'

Where he contro

thing crept into his che

again. This time

fragile than I thought

ared at t

ather, Geneviev

She carried his name.

her guil

'd read a hundred times. Seraphina Blake's life in tidy lines: private

yfriends. No rebel

us. But maybe she real

hat

nding beside her father at a gala. She looked like porcelain. C

of him wondered..

ayden returned

tes without question. The mansion was quiet.

e his return. Did

e bridal suite. Her door was closed, but a s

sed ou

time, he

ten

vement. No voic

in bed, maybe still in that ridicu

she

she

er if he wou

ce. To remind her this wasn't a dream-it was war.

he d

e floor beneath the door. Inside it was a

t the gala this Frida

e walk

use he w

e couldn't af