“I didn’t authorize that directly,” Ronan said quickly. “I delegate—”“To whom?”There was no answer.I felt my jaw tighten—not from fury, but from the muscle memory of too many years spent biting my tongue.The questions kept coming. Documents. Letters. Account ledgers. Every answer he gave, the pr
(Ronan’s POV)They told me to be honest.Not with facts—those had already been twisted in filings and filtered through press briefings—but with tone. With presence. The court didn’t want truth. It wanted confession dressed as sincerity, apology without consequence.So I gave them that.I stood as in
(Violet’s POV)Mariah Sterling was called without ceremony.No title. No reverence. Just her name—stripped of lineage, echoed through a chamber that no longer bowed when she entered it.She walked to the stand like posture could still preserve power. Chin high. Spine rigid. Gloves white. But her com
“Pregnant? Gods, no. The bastard doesn’t even know how his own bloodline works.”A beat of laughter—hers, sharp and giddy.“All I needed was a blood seal and a charm. Five drops, thirty minutes, and every physician in the court started bowing like I’d conjured him an heir.”There was a sharp intake
(Violet’s POV)I didn’t realize I had been waiting for someone to move until I felt him beside me. Lucian didn’t speak. He simply offered me his hand, which I took needing to be balanced in this moment. My head was swimming as he simply stepped into the space next to mine, not like he was claiming i
I remained where I was—seated, still, deliberate.I had known. Not fully. Not in a way the court would accept as proof. But instinct had its own kind of accuracy. So did silence. So did blood.Violet had never needed to prove herself to me but now the rest of the world had run out of excuses. The mo