PTE

rning – the flash of cameras, Dane's sneer, and Josep

udy, the grand windows doing nothing t

her, arms folded, his ton

s to this arran

ances. You'll maintain your rol

slightly, but she

questions about my business. No wandering into restricted parts of this ho

gaze, her hands k

oughts bet

eryone I was his wife. Was that just part of

welcome flicker of hope sl

lready begun to feel s

ed the thought, afr

ress again, his voice stripped of

t had shielded her from the world – when his word

les, that memory whispered a da

oseph Bronson wasn't a

*

took. Determined not to feel like a stranger in her own home, she wand

walked, the more s

whispers pri

n't belon

't last

pun a

butler bowing his head too quickly. Fear flicke

Without another word, sh

er thoughts restless. Maybe he needed to

teps

seated at his desk, his gaze lowered. His hand lingered on

t look cold at all in the mome

ed back, not wanti

r eyes snagged on a heavy wood

remembere

his room, Jose

lse qu

to walk away. To

pressed hard

e brass handle. S

revealing a dim room laye

ng the shelves, the faint scent of o

she f

d by a forgotten curtain,

rms draped lightly aro

n Lisa

ur

seph's warning, the staff's whispers, his sudden bursts

her. He's still

as she stumbled back, her

to study the p

uneven, until she shut herself inside her ow

lieve about Joseph the night

ped through the back escape door, desperat

h a cool whisper of freed

ged from the shadows. "Mrs. Bro

eel scraping against the pavement. The lights w

this, never had strangers claw

Sir, she's outside – the back door. Papa

tightened as he seized his coa

cold iron of the gates. Just as panic broke through her chest, w

rm pulled

rough the frenzy. The flashes faltered under his gl

hall, his t

to the Bronson family now. You might have hidden from your father's name with a fa

away, his footsteps leaving a sil

*

leep, Lisa clutche

f his words... and yet, she couldn't leave

towards his study, rehearsing an

led through the half–open d

eye on

dying on her lips, the

t, her heart sin

together with

e with her, Lisa

tepm