d her into a warm, firm embrace. It wasn't the perfunctory air-k

aid softly but with an iron will in her voice, her hand resting o

tears blurring her vision. They talked for a while longer, Eleanora offering practical advice on securing a new ap

y different person. The burden of three years had been lifted fro

rent. It was no longer her prison. It was simply a place she was leaving. She walk

sl

She intercepted Isla in the grand hallway, blocking her path. Chloe was spoiled,

s a scratch on my bag," she said, not as a request, but as a command. "Yo

ed Isla like a high-class servant, a personal assistant for their whims.

e was di

ouched her lips. "I'm sorry, Chloe," she said, her voice polite but firm as ste

outh hung open, her eyes wide with disbelief.

second glance, leaving a sputtering

sanctuary of her room whe

ere have

mask of stern disapproval. Caroline had always despised Isla for her lack of a prominent f

colded, her voice dripping with venom. "You are a Beaumont wife. Your duty is to

anora's words, coursed through Isla. She l

ont wife are, it seem

at the veiled insolence. "What did you just say to me?"

ll, enigmatic smile. "You'

us, bewildered face. The act of standing up to both of her long-time tormentors in

w it open on the bed. She began filling it with the few things that wer

room made her freeze, her hand

, her heart stopp

aning against the frame, his arms crossed, a dark, unreadable expression on his