LILy's POV
I slammed the door shut behind me the moment I stepped into the servant quarters.
The loud clack echoed in the still hallway, but I didn’t care.
My legs gave way beneath me, and I slid to the floor, back pressed against the cold wall, hands clutching my chest like I could somehow stop the pounding underneath. My heart was racing—loud, frantic, like it didn’t know where it belonged anymore.
Why?
Why did he defend me?
Of all the people at that table… Sebastian Kingsley had spoken.
He hadn’t just dismissed Victoria. He silenced her. The same man who had threatened to destroy me only hours earlier had turned around and shielded me from humiliation.
It didn’t make sense.
My body trembled from more than just the tension. I was cold. Shaken. His words at dinner had sliced through the smug glances and venomous sneers, but they’d cut me too. I’d braced for cruelty. I’d expected it from every corner of that room. But I hadn’t prepared for protection.
And now I didn’t know what to fe
