Chapter One Hundred and Sixty: Shut Out

Steam curled around the marble tiled room, thick and fragrant with the oils she had poured into the water. Emilia sank lower into the bath until the water lapped at her collarbones. The pale silk dress she had chosen earlier, her armor, her statement, lay discarded in a heap on the cold floor, as if mocking her with the futility of her intentions.

Her skin stung faintly where Lucien’s hands had marked her. She pressed her knees together beneath the water, remembering the weight of his body, the way his words had cut sharper than any knife.

You’re not going.

The verdict had landed like a lock slamming shut.

At first, she had clung to a foolish hope that he was testing her. That he would come back, pull her out of the water, and tell her to walk beside him into the boardroom. But the minutes stretched, thick and unbearable. Somewhere below, faint voices murmured, and the muffled scrape of chairs across hardwood drifted upward. They had convened. Without her.

She wasn’t at the table.

Jul