Chapter 2

The next day, I returned to the estate to pack my things.

The door was unlocked. I pushed it open and found Lydia sitting at my vanity. She was wearing the ivory dressing gown Helena had saved for me, and around her neck hung my pearl necklace, the one only to be given to the eldest daughter before her marriage.

Two maids were shoving my clothes into old trunks, and the portrait of me at sixteen had already been taken down from the wall.

"Evelyn's back." Lydia smiled at her reflection. "I hear you're finally being shipped off. This room would only sit empty. Mother said it's mine now, so I can do whatever I want with it."

I told the maids to stop. I walked up behind Lydia and reached for the clasp of the necklace.

Lydia's expression changed. She grabbed my wrist. "What are you doing?"

"Taking back what's mine."

"Mother already gave it to me."

"My necklace. No one has the right to give it away for me."

I unclasped the necklace from her neck. The pearls were slick with powder from her skin. I took out my handkerchief and wiped them clean, one by one. Then Lydia suddenly seized my hand and yanked it back hard.

The door swung open at that exact moment. Edmund, Helena, and Adrian were all standing outside. They saw Lydia red-eyed and clutching her wrist, and me standing there with the necklace in my hand.

"Evelyn!" Helena rushed to shield Lydia. "She's pregnant! How could you hit her?"

"I never touched her."

"We all saw it. Are you going to deny it?"

Those red marks on her wrist were clearly self-inflicted. Before, I would have rushed to explain. I would have gone through every detail until they believed me. But this time, I simply put the necklace back in its case.

Edmund's face darkened. "What kind of family makes a spectacle of itself over a few pearls?"

Lydia leaned into Adrian's arms on cue, her voice thin and sweet. "If you don't want to go to Northsea, you can stay at the southern estate. Adrian said that as long as you don't try to take my place as his wife, I won't make you leave."

Helena actually looked pleased. "See? Lydia is even thinking about you now. She's going to be a mother. She really has grown up."

I laughed out loud. She stole my wedding, then graciously offered to let me be Adrian's secret lover. And they called that maturity.

When everyone turned away, Lydia leaned in close and whispered in my ear, "Once you're married off to Northsea, I'll be Mother's only daughter. Give it enough time, and she'll forget what you even like. She'll forget you entirely."

I did not respond. I walked to the bookshelf and packed every personal ledger and journal I had kept over the years into my trunk. On top, I placed the estate's pharmacy account book I had just finished auditing. Edmund immediately tried to stop me, afraid I was taking something that belonged to the family.

"Once you're married to Northsea, don't meddle in family affairs."

He said it as though my years of work were just like this room: the moment I left, they could be handed over to Lydia in one piece.

On the desk sat the brass seal that marked my status as the eldest daughter. I picked it up and smashed it against the corner of the desk.

The seal cracked in two.

Edmund flew into a rage. I lifted my chin. "Go ahead. Hit me. Wreck my face, and see who's left to marry off to Northsea for your precious daughter."

Helena stared at me in disbelief. "Sweetheart, what's happened to you?"

Edmund grabbed a cup and hurled it to the ground. A shard cut my face. He shouted, "Lock her up. She stays locked in until she apologizes."