as dangerously low, a stark contrast to the fire

ciety fell away, revealing the ugly jealousy beneath. "H

ist, trying to pry the ring from her grasp. Seraphina stumbled back

flew from

oft clink on the polished marble floor. Time seemed to slow as it skittered ac

ir of gleaming, hand-stit

. Her eyes, along with Bianca's and the

the symbol of their union, lying at his feet. Then,

small, strangled s

his heel

oed in the tomb-like silence of the store. The sound of me

ope, the last, lingering shred of a memory of the man she thought s

ut as he'd placed this very ring on her finger, he'd leaned in and whispered, his v

of that family, had p

um and the fractured, dulled stone. He finally met her ga

ith," he said, his voice fla

ggled against his arm, looking up at him with ad

cious, tearing pain erupted in her stomach, far worse than the dull ache sh

her abdomen as a cold sweat broke out

andsome, cruel man and the beautiful, venomous wom

them see her bre

ce for the wreckage of her ring on the floor. She locked her eyes on the exit, and with slow, agonizing steps,

slightly on her feet, the ghostly pallor of her face. That irritating, inexplicable feeli

e meant to humiliate and get revenge on he

out onto the sun-drenched sidewalk. The bright light was

e marriage was a lie.