Chapter 7

Stephen's grip tightened around Noelle's throat. She started seeing double, but she forced herself not to pry his hand away.

Noelle trusted her mother. Julia had worked for the Sedgwicks for years, watched Stephen grow up, and always treated his parents with love and respect.

When Stephen's mother, Miranda Graham, was newly pregnant, someone approached Julia in private, claiming they had a gift to deliver.

Instead, they offered her two million dollars to secretly put a drug that could cause a miscarriage in Miranda's food every day.

Julia wasn't tempted. She told Oscar and Miranda everything, and from then on, she tasted Miranda's food herself before every meal.

Miranda gave birth safely, but someone later broke Julia's leg in retaliation. She still walked with a limp.

After everything Julia had done to protect the Sedgwicks, Noelle couldn't believe she'd neglected Oscar so badly that he'd died.

On the day Oscar died, he'd sent Julia away, saying he had confidential business to deal with. He was alone in his study when Julia heard books fall to the floor.

Worried something was wrong, she went to check on him, but Oscar had locked the door from the inside. By the time she found the spare key and opened it, he wasn't breathing.

No one knew what had happened in that study.

When Stephen learned of his father's death, he flew into a rage and threw Julia out of the house.

Miranda only let Noelle stay because she hadn't forgotten how Jacob had once helped her secure her place in the Sedgwick family.

Noelle had tried to explain everything she knew to Stephen again and again, but he'd never believed her.

If dying would finally make him leave Julia alone, maybe it would be worth it. She closed her eyes and waited to die.

But the next moment, the pressure on her throat was gone.

Noelle gasped for air, coughing so hard that tears spilled from her eyes.

Stephen stared at her, his eyes full of hatred and something else she couldn't read. Then he drove his fist into the mirror.

Glass shattered across the white floor, leaving a few bright red drops of blood among the shards.

Rachel, who'd been hiding nearby, screamed.

"Get out! All of you, get out!" Stephen shouted.

Rachel knew she'd gone too far. She nodded frantically and fled.

The other guests had heard the commotion. When they saw her leaving, they hurried out too, not wanting to get on Stephen's bad side.

Soon, only Noelle and Stephen were left in the enormous house.

Noelle glanced at his bleeding fist before walking past him to get the first-aid kit from the study. When she returned, he was brooding alone in a corner.

"Let me bandage your hand."

The moment she touched him, Stephen shoved her hard. She fell, landing palm-first in the broken glass.

Noelle sucked in a sharp breath. Sweat rolled down her forehead, and the color drained from her lips. Still, she didn't cry out. With trembling fingers, she pulled out the shards of glass embedded deep in her palm.

Stephen shot her a cold glance. "Don't pretend you care."

Her palm was numb with pain, and she didn't have the strength to argue. Once she'd removed the last shard, she wrapped her hand in gauze and went back to Stephen.

"Let me bandage your hand," she repeated.

This time, Stephen didn't push her away. He let her carefully tend to his injured hand, her fingers still trembling.

As she got to her feet, Noelle said quietly, "Don't do that to yourself again. Your mom would hate to see you hurt."

Stephen tipped his head back, staring at the ceiling and laughing bitterly. "She doesn't care about me. To her, I'm just a puppet she can marry off to gain control of the family."

Noelle frowned. She had no idea what was going through his head.

"She's your mother. Of course she loves you. She's arranging this marriage because she thinks it's best for you."

Her words did nothing to reassure him. He sprang to his feet with a disbelieving laugh.

"She loves me? She's never really cared about me! She even treats you better than me! And now you're telling me to go along with this marriage?

"You think I should just let them push me around and spend my whole life as their pawn? Aren't you in love with me? Then why are you taking her side?"

Noelle hadn't expected him to say any of that.

She'd always thought of Stephen as proud and strong-willed. Once he'd made up his mind, there was no changing it. He'd certainly never budged when it came to blaming Julia for Oscar's death.

But now he looked like a wounded little boy who couldn't pull himself together.

She understood him less than ever.

Noelle looked up at him. "I thought you liked Rachel. Wouldn't marrying her be what you want? Or would you marry me?"