Semua Bab Tempting the Wrong Prince: Bab 11 - Bab 13

Cassandra’s POVThe moment I entered the hall, the air shifted.Music faltered, voices hushed, champagne glasses stilled. For a heartbeat, the glittering crowd of nobles and dignitaries simply stared.And then the whispers began.Some smiled, faint and polite, their curiosity veiled with admiration. Others looked at me with open disdain, their lips curling in scorn. Those ones belonged to Ivana’s camp. Loyalists who would never forgive me for disrupting their perfect narrative.I kept walking. Head high. Shoulders back. My emerald gown flowed around me like liquid fire, every step a declaration: I would not cower.But inside, my pulse throbbed in my throat.The gala lights gleamed, chandeliers casting gold across the marble floor. Perfume hung thick in the air. The entire court had gathered under the guise of charity, but I knew better. This wasn’t philanthropy. This was a spectacle.And I was the main attraction.My mother was the first to break ranks.She rushed toward me, satin ski

Cassandra's POVThe room had gone unnervingly quiet.A ballroom that should have been filled with music and laughter now thrummed with the tension of two men standing on opposite ends of the same wound, Richard with rage burning in his eyes, Arden with a smirk that dared the world to blink.“A lot has happened, Richard,” Arden warned softly, though his voice carried across the polished floor. “Don’t cause a scene here. Your reputation is still bleeding. Don’t worsen it.”Richard didn’t hear him. Or maybe he didn’t care.“She is my wife, Arden,” he snapped, his voice breaking through the silence like a whip. “You don’t touch my wife.”Arden tilted his head, his smile widening, playful, dangerous. “Or else what, little brother? What will you do if I touch her?”The crowd gasped. The audacity in his words, the sheer provocation, left the air buzzing. Arden wasn’t just unbothered, he looked like he was enjoying himself.Richard’s jaw clenched, his fists trembling at his sides. “Ah, I see