ard Chloe. "Sister, I don't hold grudges about the past. Let's be a loving family again." Her fingers

family? You and me?" The words tasted like ash on her tongue. She had once ye

eone who couldn't stand to see

f his Bentley. He strode toward Chloe, displeasure carved into every line of his face. "You think three years of discipline gives you the right to feel wronged? Do you know Mother hasn't slept through a si

hree years of discipline, and Chloe still saw herself as the victim? Cassie had nearly died. The memory of that

us as you're making it. She's just returned. As her eldes

d for it. All of Greenwich knows the Beaumonts produced a daughter capable of poisoning her own sister. Cassie chose to forgive-she's been protecting Chloe

's voice rose to a near-shout. "Sa

ssie. He'd followed through-firing servants who slighted her, designing jewelry for her birthdays, staying by her bedside when she was ill. She remembered the cool weight of his hand on her feverish forehead, the

he past in the past. Come inside. Your grandmother and father are waitin

se. Two steps later, he turned back, voice softening

nced at Chloe. She said nothing. She didn't need to. The

resolved to discard every emotional tie, to hand over her fiancé, parents, and brothers to Cassie without a backwar

ragile. Be pleasant. Don't mention the past three years-there's no need to upset her. And you're twenty-five now. It's time to think about marriage. The academy... we can't let anyone know you spent three years there, in close quarters with o

own the hall, she realized they weren't heading toward her old suite. The corridor was f