Chapter 3

My heart twisted so painfully that I could barely breathe. All I could do was reach out and hold Mother's ice-cold fingers as tightly as my small hands could manage.

A flash of embarrassment crossed Cedric's face, but it was quickly swallowed by anger. "So what? Would you have me give up the woman I truly love for the sake of some arranged marriage? Even the Emperor himself defied every advisor in his court to keep his heart devoted solely to the Empress. How is it wrong for me to do the same?

"Emmeline Sinclair, I never loved you! Marrying you was nothing more than our parents' arrangement! Seraphina and I chose each other!

"As for the gossip, it's been years. Who even remembers any of it?"

Mother's gaze drifted across Seraphina's smug face, then back to Cedric. Her eyes looked hollow. "And when you left that newborn child with me, telling me that as the intended wife and that it was my duty to raise her... Was that also because of your great love for each other?"

"Emmeline!" Seraphina's voice turned shrill. "You raised Rosalind for five years. Don't tell me you feel nothing for her! You're only bringing up the past because you want to keep my daughter for yourself!"

She jabbed a finger in my direction. "Look at her! She's grown up so well, so clever. You clearly poured your heart into raising her! That's why you don't want to give her back! Give me back my daughter!"

She tried to lunge at me again, but Cedric held her back.

Cedric turned to Mother, his tone heavy with threat. "Emmeline, I don't want to make a scene. We're taking the child. As for you, you'll come back to the estate with me. Seraphina is the legal wife, and you will show her respect.

"This is the best you can hope for. Consider it repayment for the five years you spent raising Rosalind."

Repayment?

They had broken Mother's heart, turned her into a laughingstock, dumped a baby on her doorstep, and vanished for five years without a single word. Now, they had come back and expected Mother to be a concubine, to bow to the very woman who had ruined her life.

What kind of repayment was that?

I could not hold it in any longer. I threw myself out from behind Mother and screamed with everything I had, "You're lying! I'm not your Rosalind! My father is the Emperor! My mother is the Empress! You're horrible people! Both of you!"

The alley fell silent once more.

Cedric and Seraphina stared at me, looking at me the way one would look at a child spouting nonsense.

Then Seraphina burst out laughing. She laughed so hard she doubled over, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. "Oh, Emmeline, did you hear that? What have you been filling this child's head with? You must've lost your mind completely!"

Cedric shook his head, looking at Mother with a mixture of disappointment and pity.

"Emmeline, have you truly gone this far? Making up lies like this just to keep the child? Do you have any idea that impersonating royalty is a crime punishable by the execution of your entire family?"

He stopped hesitating. He strode forward and reached straight for Mother's wrist. "You need to come to your senses. You're coming with me!"

"Don't touch my mother!" I screamed and tried to shove him away, but he brushed me aside with barely any effort, and I fell to the ground.

Mother's expression changed instantly. She rushed to my side, pulling me up and checking me over for injuries.

Cedric stood there, thwarted. A flush of anger and humiliation crept across his face.

Seraphina saw her chance. She dropped the act entirely, moved in close to Mother, and lowered her voice. "Emmeline, did you really think I begged you to take in my daughter for the child's sake?"

Mother's hands tightened into fists.

"I did it on purpose." Seraphina smiled, wide and triumphant. "When Cedric and I eloped, I left the baby with you deliberately. I wanted to make sure you'd never be able to hold your head up again."