Ava Moody POV:

I walked down the long, empty corridor, my only goal to put distance between myself and that hollow celebration. But the feeling of shame clung to me like a second skin.

The sharp, clicking sound of heels on stone echoed from behind me. It was an arrogant sound, one that demanded attention.

I stopped. I didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Running away so soon, our 'honorable' lady of the house?" Blanche Kensington's voice was sickly sweet, laced with ice.

I turned slowly, meeting her sky‑blue eyes. They were filled with an undisguised, gloating superiority. For the past three years, she had been a frequent visitor to this manor, and her visits were always punctuated with sharp‑tongued jibes and deliberate humiliations. Not once had Alton ever spoken a word in my defense against her.

My personal maid, Annie, hurried around the corner, her face tight with worry. She moved to my side, a small, protective presence, her gaze fixed warily on Blanche.

Blanche's eyes roamed over me, a slow, insulting appraisal. Her gaze finally landed on the bracelet on my wrist.

It was a delicate thing, woven from moonstone and mithril silver. It was a gift from my grandmother‑in‑law, the only person in this family who had ever shown me genuine kindness. This bracelet was my most treasured possession.

A greedy smile touched Blanche's lips. "That's a pretty little thing. A waste on a human wrist."

She held out her hand, her nails painted a startling, blood‑red. "Take it off. Give it to me."

My hand flew to my wrist, a purely instinctual motion to protect it. "This was my grandmother‑in‑law's gift to me," I said, my voice cold. "I can't give it to you."

Annie couldn't stop herself. "Miss Kensington, you go too far! That is our lady's private property!"

Blanche's face hardened instantly. She narrowed her eyes at Annie. "A human dog dares to bark at me?"

My heart leaped into my throat. A Vorrath noble could kill a human servant with less thought than crushing an insect.

Just then, Alton's voice cut through the tension from the end of the hall. "Blanche, what's going on?"

He walked toward us, his long strides closing the distance in seconds. He moved to stand beside Blanche, a natural alignment. His look toward me was one of pure impatience.

Blanche immediately adopted a wounded expression, clutching his arm. "Alton, darling, I just admired her bracelet. I only wanted to look at it, and she and her servant started yelling at me."

It was a lie, effortless and absolute. A skill the Vorrath nobility perfected from birth.

Alton didn't even ask for my side. He simply issued a command. "Ava, give the bracelet to Blanche."

I stared at him, unable to believe it. This was the man I had cared for, the man whose life I had made my own for three years. He was ordering me to give my grandmother‑in‑law's gift to another woman.

"Alton..." I started, my voice dry and cracking.

He cut me off, his tone severe. "Don't make me repeat myself. Don't ruin Blanche's evening over a worthless trinket."

"A worthless trinket," I repeated his words, the whisper a hollow echo in my own ears. The last ember of warmth in my chest was extinguished by those two words.

Annie started to speak again, but I silenced her with a look. I knew any more resistance from me would only bring pain down on her.

My hands were shaking. Not from fear, but from a rage and disappointment so profound it felt like a physical illness.

I looked at Alton's handsome, cold face. Slowly, deliberately, I began to unfasten the clasp of the bracelet.

A cruel, triumphant smile spread across Blanche's face.

The quiet click of the clasp opening sounded like my own dignity shattering.

Ava Moody POV:

My hand, holding the bracelet, was steady. I stared directly at Alton. The skin on my wrist was cold where the moonstones had rested.

He frowned, confused by my gesture. He expected me to give it to Blanche.

"Since it is Lord Whitehead's command," I said, my voice low but every word clear and sharp, "this 'worthless trinket' should be delivered by your own hand."

It was a silent rebellion. An accusation.

Blanche's expression soured. She didn't like the focus shifting back to Alton's role in this.

Alton's eyes darkened with a dangerous light. He felt my challenge. He took a step closer, and the powerful aura of a Vorrath male pressed down on me, making my lungs feel tight.

He didn't take the bracelet. Instead, he said, "It seems three years of comfort have made you forget your place, Ava."

Before he could continue, Annie—who had been cowering behind me—suddenly stepped forward, her voice shaking but fierce. "That's not fair! Lady Blanche is the one who uses her station to steal from others. She has no right to demand my mistress's treasure. If anyone is forgetful of their place, it is she, not my mistress!"

Blanche's face flushed with fury. She spun to Alton, pointing a trembling finger at Annie. "Do you hear this insolence? This lowly slave dares to lecture me about rank and decency. She is a disrespectful wretch who must be taught a lesson immediately!"

Alton's gaze shifted to Annie, cold and dismissive. He gave a slight, cruel nod. "It seems you are right, Blanche. Such a mouth needs to be silenced." Then he turned his head, his voice ringing with cruel command. "Guards! Take this disrespectful slave and give her fifty lashes!"

All the blood drained from Annie's face. She began to tremble violently. Fifty lashes would kill a girl as slight as her.

My heart felt like it was being squeezed in a fist. I couldn't breathe. He was using Annie's life to break me.

"No! Don't!" I cried out, my composure shattering as I moved to shield her.

Two towering Vorrath guards were already there, their large hands clamping down on Annie's arms.

Annie looked at me, her eyes wide with terror and filling with tears, but she bit her lip and didn't beg.

"Alton, please, she did nothing wrong!" I begged him, shedding the last of my pride.

He watched my breakdown with a cold, detached expression, as if he were enjoying the show. "Now you beg? You forced my hand, Ava. It would be better for you to learn obedience."

Blanche watched from the side, a smug smile on her face, savoring my pain and helplessness.

I looked at Annie being dragged away, her eyes filled with despair. I couldn't let her die for me.

I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, all the fight had gone out of me. There was only a dead, empty calm.

"I'll give it to her." I turned and shoved the bracelet into Blanche's hand.

My voice was terrifyingly steady. "Here is the bracelet. Let her go."

Blanche snatched it, her victory complete. Alton gestured to his lover. "Put it on." She obeyed instantly, fastening the bracelet around her own wrist. It was too large for her, hanging loosely, but she didn't care.

She shook her wrist at me, a deliberate, taunting gesture. The light from the moonstones felt like a physical blow.

Alton waved a dismissive hand at the guards. They released Annie, shoving her so hard she fell to the stone floor.

Ignoring her own fall, Annie scrambled to my feet, grabbing the hem of my dress and sobbing quietly.

I helped her up, feeling as if all the strength had been drained from my body.

Alton looked at us, his eyes devoid of pity. He turned to Blanche. "See? That wasn't so hard. Let's go. No need to waste any more time on these little matters."

He wrapped his arm around Blanche's waist and they turned to leave, as if the entire, brutal episode had been nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

As she passed me, Blanche deliberately bumped my shoulder. "Remember your place, human," she whispered.

They walked away, their figures receding down the long hall, leaving me with nothing but the sound of Annie's weeping.

I had lost. Completely. I had lost not just my treasure, but the last shred of my dignity as a person.

I held the trembling Annie in my arms, and for the first time, I felt an emotion for Alton Whitehead that was not love.

It was pure, undiluted hate.

Caspian Montgomery POV:

When that shadow messenger slipped into the doorway of my study, the flames in the hearth had turned to ash. He knelt down and reported the situation to me in hurried and brief tones.

I listened to his report, and he said that when Eva held the crying girl in her arms, he saw a flash of light in her eyes—there was a look of hatred in them, one that directly pointed at Alton.

I put down the wine glass in my hand, pressing the surface of the crystal cup with force until a fine crack appeared on it. Outside, the moon hung coldly, identical to the one from three years ago. Back then, I stood on the city wall, watching her release paper lanterns into the sky. Her laughter was clear, her face radiating carefree happiness. Our eyes met in an instant, and something within me shattered suddenly, something that never healed. I proposed the next morning at dawn, but the response came quickly: she was already bound by a contract with Whithead. I told myself to be patient, to wait until the contract expired before pursuing her. I was wrong.

Tonight, she was humiliated, and her dignity was completely destroyed. As long as her wounds have not yet healed, I will not approach her.

I will stay in the shadows, observe, and wait for the right moment.

When she's ready, I'll give her a choice she can't refuse. Not as a prince, not as a lord, but as the man who loved her for three years in the darkness.

Alton will pay for this. They all will pay for this.