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39 Return to the Lion’s Den
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2025-10-03 00:42:23
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Tempting the Wrong Prince 40 Shattered Chains
Cassandra’s POVMy father’s eyes hardened the moment I spoke. They weren’t the eyes of a man welcoming his daughter home, or even the eyes of a man still raw from imprisonment. No. They were the eyes of a man who saw me as his enemy.As though my entire existence, my entire purpose, was to disgrace him.But he had it coming.“You said I should have gone back to Richard,” I told him, my voice sharp, laced with years of fury I had swallowed down. “The truth is, Father, I thought of it. I thought of crawling back to him and begging for scraps. But then Arden gave me a better option. An option where I wouldn’t have to cower to Ivana ever again. And I took it.”The words were barely out of my mouth before his hand cut through the air and connected with my cheek. The crack echoed in the tea lounge, sharp and merciless. My head snapped to the side, skin stinging, eyes burning, but I refused to flinch.He stood over me, chest heaving, eyes blazing. “And then you soiled yourself,” he spat. “Yo
Tempting the Wrong Prince 39 Return to the Lion’s Den
Cassandra’s POVDiana stood at the foot of my bed with her arms crossed, her brows knit together in that way that always made her look older than she was. Her voice, usually so teasing and irreverent, had sharpened into something almost maternal.“My lady, don’t go,” she urged as I slipped my arms into a pale blue dress. “It’s too soon. The court may have pardoned them, but that doesn’t mean the whispers have died. The queen consort still breathes, and you know what that means.”I paused before the mirror, smoothing the fabric over my hips. Her words lodged themselves deep in my chest, echoing the very fears that had gnawed at me all night. She wasn’t wrong. I was afraid too. Afraid of what I would find. Afraid of being caught, of being paraded again as the fallen wife who had run into another man’s arms. Afraid, most of all, of my father.But what kind of daughter would I be if I stayed hidden? I had not been able to visit them while they were locked away, their names dragged through
Tempting the Wrong Prince 38 Whispers Before the Storm
Cassandra’s POVThe morning should have felt ordinary. The air was cool from the night before, the pale light slipping through the curtains softened the edges of the room, and Arden’s presence should have been enough to quiet every storm clawing at me. And yet, as I stirred awake, a weight pressed against my chest, a weight I could neither name nor shake.Something was different.Arden moved beside me with the same steady grace, his every action deliberate, his eyes as unreadable as ever. But beneath that calm, there was something else, something restrained. A tension that told me he carried a burden he hadn’t yet shared.I knew better than to push. He had already done so much for me, shielded me against venom and whispers, fought Ivana in open court, and turned the tide of judgment against my parents. I could not, would not, demand more of him. Arden was not a man who yielded to pressure, not even mine. If he had something to tell me, he would.Still, the silence between us stretched
Tempting the Wrong Prince 37 Chained Borders
Arden’s POVThe morning crept in quietly, shafts of pale light slipping through the curtains and cutting across the room. I had barely slept, though Cassandra’s steady breathing beside me had been a kind of balm. I lay there for a while, watching the rise and fall of her chest, the way her hair tumbled across the pillow in soft waves.There was a peace to her face that I hadn’t seen in weeks, and I found myself wishing I could freeze this moment, shield her forever from the storm gathering beyond these walls.The phone on the nightstand vibrated sharply, breaking the silence. I reached for it quickly, careful not to disturb her, and glanced at the screen. Sebastien. My younger brother.I slipped out of bed, answering in a low voice as I moved toward the balcony. “Sebastien.”“Arden,” his voice was brisk, tinged with urgency. “We need you in Belmont. The board has scheduled an emergency session this afternoon. It’s regarding the partnership with Myrth’s president. You know how critical
Tempting the Wrong Prince 36 Mine, Always
Cassandra’s POVThe chamber was too quiet.The maids had long finished unpacking the last of my belongings into Arden’s wardrobe. Diana had gone to fetch food hours ago and hadn’t returned. Even the television was off now, the black screen reflecting my own pale face back at me.I couldn’t sit still. My feet carried me from the bed to the balcony, back to the mirror, then again to the bed, over and over until the floor itself seemed to memorise my pacing. Every minute stretched into ten, every ten into an eternity.The press conference still replayed in my head. Richard at the podium, Ivana beside him, both wearing the false serenity of victors. His words, the calculated sweetness of his voice, echoed mercilessly: “I want to tell my wife she no longer has to hide. She can now come home, and we will work things out.”Home. As if I had one with him.The fury that had surged in me then had not subsided. My nails dug into my palms as I thought of his audacity, his refusal to acknowledge h
Tempting the Wrong Prince 35 The Pardon
Cassandra’s POVThe room was alive with movement.I sat on the edge of the bed, watching as my things were carried from one chamber to another. Maids hurried in and out, arms laden with dresses, jewellery cases, and the stacks of books I had stubbornly clung to even when I had left Richard’s palace. Each item vanished into Arden’s room, our room now.The thought made my stomach twist in two directions at once. Excitement pulsed through me, yes, but nerves tangled themselves around every heartbeat. To share space with him so openly, to have no division between his life and mine, it felt like stepping across a threshold that had no return.I smoothed the blanket beneath me with restless fingers. The television flickered across from me, voices rising and falling, the sharp tone of reporters filling the otherwise quiet chamber. I had turned it on hours ago and hadn’t been able to bring myself to switch it off.Because today, everything would be decided.Today, the court would decide what
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