Chapter 2

Adrian's hands went still, and a flicker of panic crossed his eyes. But it vanished at once, and he quickly looked calm again.

"A colleague sent it to my office. I had a taste." He picked up a white napkin and wiped his fingers slowly. "Evelyn, when did you become so petty? You're questioning me over a bite of sweet blood?"

Once again, he had turned his lie against me. If I hadn't seen Caine with my own eyes, I would probably have done what I always did: wonder if I was being too suspicious, if I wasn't good enough, or if, after nearly a century of life, I still didn't know how to be a proper wife.

"A colleague sent it?" I nodded. "That colleague must know you very well, yet somehow doesn't know that you never touch sweet blood."

Adrian's expression darkened. He stood and looked down at me. "What exactly are you trying to say? I spend every night working with the Council and the hunters' delegation, and I have to come home to this? You're throwing a tantrum over nothing?"

Throwing a tantrum over nothing.

He used those words every time he wanted to shut me down.

When I said nothing, he scoffed. "You're impossible."

That night, he slept in his study.

The next evening, I went to the estate's accounting office. Edmund Hall, the estate's longtime accountant, stood up as soon as he saw me and blocked the ledger on his desk. "Ma'am, what brings you here in person? These numbers are boring. Please leave them to me."

"Give me this month's general ledger."

"But the Magistrate told me to—"

"Give it to me."

My voice was quiet, but Edmund was already wiping sweat from his brow. After a long pause, he finally handed me the ledger.

I only had to read the first page before my heart sank. Three thousand gold pounds had vanished from the joint account. The ledger said the money had been used to buy ancient Night Council scrolls. What kind of scrolls could possibly cost exactly that amount? The jewelry shop on Duskbell Street, including everything inside, had sold for the exact same sum.

I closed the ledger. "Who withdrew the money?"

Edmund's knees buckled. "The Magistrate approved it with his blood seal and sent Caine to collect the money."

A chill ran through me.

A blood-oath marriage didn't give Adrian the right to take my premarital assets. After our marriage, I had given him a limited proxy seal to cover daily estate expenses. He could draw from a few of my shops in emergencies. I trusted him. I never imagined he would use that trust to steal from me.

Adrian had used the joint account I'd funded to buy his lover a shop. He claimed running a business was beneath him, yet he had no problem spending my money.

That evening, I took Claire to the cafe across from the jewelry shop on Duskbell Street. Our private lounge on the second floor had a clear view of the shop. Before long, a plain black carriage pulled up outside. Adrian stepped out without his Council coat and walked in alone.

Through the glass, I watched Lillian throw herself into his arms. Adrian did not push her away. Instead, he wrapped an arm around her waist, and his face softened in a way I had never seen before.

Lillian reached behind the counter and pulled out a silver-white rose brooch. Adrian took it and pinned it to her collar.

My fingers slowly curled into a fist.

That brooch was set with a rare, flawless moonstone. Six months ago, on our blood-oath anniversary, I had spotted it in an auction catalog and eagerly shown it to Adrian. He said it was too extravagant for the Chief Magistrate's wife and would make me look like a vulgar, newly rich merchant. I quietly closed the catalog.

Now that "vulgar" brooch sat on Lillian's collar.

It was never the jewelry that was vulgar. He simply didn't think I deserved it.

Claire was shaking with rage beside me. "Ma'am, how can he do this to you?"

"Let's go." I stood and didn't look across the street again.

It was late by the time I returned to the estate. The butler, Graham Cole, was waiting in the foyer. He bowed to me. "Ma'am, the Magistrate is staying in his study again tonight. He says you don't need to wait up for him."