Chapter 7- The First Crack in Her Smile

Alina’s POV

Someone was watching me.

I felt it before I saw anything, a prickle at the base of my neck that wouldn’t go away. The kind of attention that pressed into your skin even when you tried pretending you didn’t notice. I tugged the robe tighter around my chest, swallowing against the knot in my throat as I stepped into the hallway.

Kaden walked on my left.

Kael on my right.

And no matter how much I tried, I could not relax. Every step felt like walking through a world I did not belong in. Too clean. Too bright. Too full of people who wanted me gone.

The twins moved with purpose, their shoulders squared, their steps silent. My heart hammered like it was trying to escape my ribs. My mind kept flashing back to the bed sheets. To Cassandra’s face when she saw them. To the way she looked at Kaden. The flicker. The hurt.

Was it my fault.

No.

Yes.

Maybe.

I pressed my fingers to my forehead. My thoughts felt like a broken jar, sharp edges everywhere.

A door down the hall opened softly.

Cassandra stepped out.

She wore a pale blue gown now, soft and flowing, the kind meant for someone important. The fabric glowed under the morning light and made her look ethereal, almost unreal. Her blonde curls were pinned back with silver clips that shimmered as she moved.

Her eyes found the twins first.

Then me.

Her polite smile flickered but held.

“Good morning,” she said. The words sounded sweet enough, but something about the way her voice dropped at the end made the hairs on my arms rise. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and approached us slowly. “I did not know you three would be walking together.”

Kael’s jaw tightened. “We were relocating her.”

Cassandra nodded, lips curving gently. “Of course. She should be made comfortable.”

Comfortable.

My chest tightened at the way the word hung between us, heavy with everything she was pretending not to say.

Kaden inclined his head stiffly. “We will meet you in the council chamber soon. The elders want the contract reviewed before noon.”

Cassandra’s smile brightened, but it trembled almost imperceptibly. Her eyes flicked to him again, lingering too long. She wet her lips. Looked away. Looked back.

Something in her chest deflated and puffed back up like she didn’t know what to do with the air she was breathing.

She finally tore her gaze from him and turned her attention to me.

“You must be sore,” she said softly. “The first night in the palace is always overwhelming.”

My breath caught. A flush climbed my neck. She knew what she was doing. The softness in her voice was too gentle, too sweet, too calculated.

“It was not my choice,” I whispered.

Cassandra studied me for a heartbeat too long. “Nothing here is.”

Kael stepped half a step forward. “Cassandra.”

She blinked, startled as if she had been pulled out of a daydream she did not want to admit she was having.

“Forgive me,” she murmured, bowing her head slightly. “I did not mean to overstep.”

But she had.

And she knew it.

She smoothed her dress and took a small breath, steadying herself.

“I look forward to the contract signing,” she said, voice lighter than before. “And to working together for the empire’s stability.”

Her eyes skimmed over Kaden again without meaning to. Or maybe she meant to. I could not tell. But the look burned something uncomfortable inside me.

“Until then.”

She walked past us, her perfume trailing behind her like a soft, sparkling mist. It smelled like lilies. And honey. And something much sharper underneath.

As soon as she disappeared around the corner, Kael exhaled, long and slow, like someone holding in frustration too tightly.

Kaden rubbed the back of his neck. “This is already spiraling.”

They guided me into a small guest chamber on the left. The room was nicer than anywhere I had ever slept before, but it felt less like comfort and more like a cage with expensive curtains.

Kael shut the door behind us.

Kaden started pacing.

“She saw everything,” he muttered. “She is not stupid.”

Kael leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. “She cannot expose anything without evidence.”

“She will look for evidence,” Kaden snapped. “You saw her eyes.”

I swallowed. They were talking like she was a threat. Like she was dangerous. But something about Cassandra’s face when she looked at Kaden made my chest tighten in an entirely different way.

“She likes him,” I said before thinking.

Both twins froze.

Kaden stopped pacing. “What.”

“She likes you,” I repeated, softer this time, feeling heat climb my face. “I saw it. The way she looked at you.”

Kaden’s brows pulled together. Not in pride. In disbelief. Maybe even confusion.

Kael’s eyes sharpened slightly. “She cannot afford to. This is a contract, nothing else.”

But something tightened in his jaw, like the idea bothered him too, but for a different reason.

I looked at the floor. The silence in the room felt uncomfortable, like walking barefoot over sharp stones.

Kaden finally spoke. “We have no interest in her.”

Kael nodded once. “This is an arrangement only.”

My chest should have relaxed. It didn’t.

“She does not know that,” I whispered.

And that was the truth. Cassandra walked into this palace expecting a role. A status. A future. And now she had to stand in front of two kings who never looked at her the way she wanted. Standing in a bedroom that smelled like me. Wearing a contract she had not even signed yet.

A woman like her would not break all at once. She would crack slowly. Quietly. Beautifully.

Then she would shatter.

Kaden stopped pacing and looked at me carefully.

“We will make sure she does not harm you.”

The vow felt heavy.

Too heavy.

Kael opened the door, ready to escort them both out, when another soft knock landed at the frame.

A palace maid stepped inside, bowing her head. Her eyes darted to me for a fraction of a second before settling on the kings.

“Your Majesties,” she said quietly. “Cassandra sent a message. She requests a private audience before the contract signing.”

Kael’s eyes narrowed. “What for.”

The maid hesitated. “She did not say, sire.”

Kaden’s shoulders tensed. He glanced at Kael.

“She is already unraveling,” he murmured.

Kael moved toward the door. “Then we will speak with her.”

He stepped into the hall.

Kaden followed.

I remained frozen in the middle of the room, robe clutched tight around my body, heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my teeth.

Before Kaden left, he turned back one last time. His voice softened to something dangerously gentle.

“We will return. Do not open the door for anyone.”

I nodded.

They were gone.

And then the silence felt too loud.

Too tight.

Too full of thoughts that weren’t mine.

I walked toward the window, trying to breathe, trying to feel something steady under my feet. But the room felt wrong. The air felt heavy.

My chest squeezed and I pressed both palms to the windowpane, the cold glass cooling my feverish skin.

That was when I heard it.

Soft.

Distant.

A quiet, muffled sound through the wall between my chamber and the hallway.

A voice I recognized.

Cassandra.

And her words slid under the door like a thin blade.

“I will not be ignored. They will choose me. One way or another.”

My heart dropped into my stomach.

Then another voice answered her.

Not the twins.

Not a maid.

A man.

Smug.

Cold.

Ally.

“We can make that happen. But you must be willing.”

My breath caught.

Cassandra replied, voice trembling with something dark.

“I am.”

The hallway went silent.

And I felt it.

The first spark of betrayal gathering like a storm.