Chapter 3
When I got back to the Ashwood house, the other three were still up, pacing. They crowded around me as soon as I walked in.
“What happened? Do you know who his beloved is?”
I said nothing, just shaking my head.
Their faces fell with frustration and despair.
Lily started to cry. “I don’t want to die! Maybe we should just run away!”
Meredith snapped at her. “Run where? Alistair Sterling is the most powerful man in the country. He’d find us no matter how far we went.”
Seraphina set her jaw. “Dawn's only four hours away. Running might buy us a few more days. It's better than dying tomorrow.”
“We can't run,” I said.
“Someone has to marry him.”
“And it’s going to be me.”
Seraphina stared at me in disbelief. “I know I despise you, Elara, but have you forgotten how horribly you died last time?”
Meredith frowned. “If you’re still this blinded by love, I’m starting to think I was too easy on you all these years.”
The ring still sat on the table, its massive diamond glittering under the light.
If Seraphina wore it, her face would be beaten to a pulp and she’d be left to die of infection in a cellar.
If Lily wore it, she’d be pushed from a balcony, her body shattering on impact, left to die in agony.
If Meredith wore it, she’d be drowned in a tub, her body bloating before being unceremoniously dumped back on our doorstep.
And if I wore it, my death would be the worst of all. To punish his “impudent mistress,” Alistair had stabbed me twenty times, each wound placed to keep me alive longer. I had bled out slowly. Even my worst enemies had been shaken by it.
The diamond sparkled. It was a beautiful guillotine waiting for one of us.
I walked over and slid the ring onto my finger without hesitation.
“Of course I know the risks. But this is the only way for all of us to survive.”
Lily stared at me, her eyes wide. “What do you know?”
Telling them the truth might improve our chances. But if my theory was right, the truth was too bizarre, too horrifying. I couldn't drag them into it.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I can’t tell you yet.”
Seraphina’s expression was grave. “What do you need us to do?”
I lowered my eyes. “I need you to attend the wedding tomorrow and act as if you know nothing.”
Meredith’s brow furrowed deeply. “He’s going to stab you to death after the ceremony, and you want us to pretend everything is normal?!”
The three of them looked genuinely worried. For the first time, we were on the same side. I thought of the petty things they'd done over the years: schemes to get more money or make my life difficult, but nothing that had threatened my life.
And yet the man I loved and trusted had tortured me to death on our wedding night.
I took a breath and decided to tell them part of the truth.
“When I went to see Alistair tonight, he grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it. That’s when I realized who his beloved is.”
“She is one of the four of us. Someone we would never, ever suspect. She is…”
I looked each of them in the eye. Then I dropped my gaze to hide my guilt and grief and pointed to myself.
“Alistair Sterling's beloved... is me.”
The other three shook their heads in disbelief.
Lily grabbed my arm. “That’s impossible! If you were really the one he wanted to marry, why would he kill you so brutally?”
Seraphina’s eyes were red. “I saw your body with my own eyes. It was you. It makes no sense for him to marry you just to murder you in such a cruel way!”
Meredith frowned. “The Ashwoods and Sterlings have been business partners for generations. There's no feud between us. Why would he torture the woman he loves?”
“Believe me or not,” I said, “it’s me. That’s all I can tell you.”