Chapter 7

Cecily's POV

The north wing was freezing.

It sat in the most remote part of the mansion and was usually reserved for distant relatives or business associates. The mattress was hard, the air smelled of dust, and the silence felt crushing.

I spent the morning organizing my few belongings. That was when I realized the velvet jewelry box was missing.

Panic gripped my chest. Not because it held the expensive diamonds Everett had bought me for public appearances. I didn't care about those. Inside was a tarnished silver locket, the only thing of my mother's I had left after the accident and the only item the liquidators hadn't taken.

I had left it in the bedside drawer of the south-wing suite.

I practically ran down the long hallway. As I reached my former bedroom, I saw the door standing open and heard light laughter from inside.

I froze in the doorway.

Sabine sat at my dressing table, sunlight falling across her golden hair. Everett stood behind her with a large hand resting gently on her shoulder, smiling at her reflection with a tenderness he had never shown me.

Nolan leaned against the doorframe, smiling as he watched them.

Then I saw it.

My mother's silver locket hung around Sabine's slender neck.

"It has such a vintage look, Ev." Sabine ran her fingers over the faded metal. "I found it in the drawer. I didn't know you kept old jewelry like this. Is it an antique?"

"That's mine." I stepped into the room, my voice shaking.

All three of them turned toward me.

Sabine's eyes widened as if I had startled her. She raised a hand to her chest, covering the locket. "Oh! Cecily, I'm sorry. I just assumed, since it was in Everett's bedside table..." She looked up at him and bit her lip. "Ev, I feel terrible. I didn't mean to take anything of hers."

The relaxed look on Everett's face vanished the moment he saw me. His jaw tightened, clearly irritated that I had interrupted their perfect morning.

"It's a cheap piece of silver, Cecily," Everett said dismissively, moving closer to Sabine as if to protect her. "She likes it. Let her wear it for the day. I'll have my assistant buy you a diamond one this afternoon."

He thought he could buy my memories with money.

"I don't want diamonds." I stepped forward, my nails digging into my palms hard enough to draw blood. "It belonged to my mother. Take it off."

The room went silent.

Nolan straightened away from the doorframe and lowered his glass. His ice-blue eyes narrowed on my shaking hands, and something strange crossed his face.

Sabine gasped dramatically. "Oh my God, Cecily. I had no idea!"

Her fingers fumbled with the clasp. She yanked the locket free but didn't hand it to me. Instead, she let it slip through her perfectly manicured fingers.

The silver locket struck the hard marble floor with a sharp crack.

The delicate hinge broke. The locket sprang open, and a faded photograph of my parents slid across the cold stone.

"Oops," Sabine whispered, covering her mouth. Tears filled her eyes as she looked at Everett. "Ev, I'm so clumsy. I'm still jet-lagged, and my hands won't stop shaking."

Everett immediately wrapped an arm around Sabine's waist and pulled her close. "It's all right, Sabine. It was an accident. Don't be upset."

Then he looked down at me, his eyes colder than a winter wind.

"Pick up your trash, Cecily," Everett ordered, his voice carrying across the large room. "And don't ever raise your voice at her again."

I didn't argue. I didn't scream. I simply knelt on the cold marble floor.

I carefully collected the broken pieces of silver and the tiny photograph of my mother smiling. I pressed them to my chest, stood, and walked out without looking at any of them.

Back in the cold, dusty north-wing room, I closed the door and slid down against it with the broken silver in my hands. The sharp metal cut deep into my palm.

I didn't cry. That house had taken all my tears long ago.

What replaced them was a frightening clarity.

Pick up your trash.

The words repeated in my mind, sharper than any physical blow. For two years, I had played the obedient, silent wife. I had slowly killed my own spirit and swallowed every humiliation just to keep my father alive.

I had told myself I could survive the final year of the contract. I thought I could endure Everett's coldness and Nolan's twisted games.

But as I looked at my mother's broken locket, I finally understood the truth. Everett had never seen me as a person. I was a convenient shield he could throw away the moment his true love returned.

If I stayed until Sabine was done playing her games, there would be nothing left of me to save. I would die in that house quietly, and no one would know.

The three-year deadline no longer mattered. Neither did the contract.

I closed my bleeding hand around the locket.

I had to escape.