Semua Bab A Contract The Empire Couldn't Break : Bab 241 - Bab 250

Beatrice Whitmore did not return to the main hall after Lillian was carried away.The estate had fallen into a stunned hush. Guests lingered in clusters, speaking in low tones that pretended to be concern but tasted of spectacle. Rain pressed against the tall windows like an accusation. Beatrice bypassed them all, her steps steady until the doors to the east wing closed behind her.Only then did her composure fracture.She entered the small private chapel that few people knew existed. It was not grand. No chandeliers. No audience. Just polished wood, a single kneeler, and a narrow stained glass window depicting white lilies bending under rain.Beatrice locked the door.Her hands trembled as she lowered herself to the bench. For years she

Nathaniel stood alone in the darkened study long after the house had settled into uneasy quiet.Celestine Heights was rarely silent. Even at night, it carried a controlled hum. Security systems breathed softly. Distant gates shifted. The estate existed to reassure power that it was never unattended. Tonight, that reassurance felt thin.Lillian slept two floors above him, sedated by exhaustion rather than medicine. The doctor had said rest would be enough. Memory overload. Emotional shock. A body overwhelmed by fragments it could not yet assemble.Nathaniel had nodded, thanked them, dismissed them.Now the weight of those words pressed against his ribs.Memory overload.He had watched her collapse

Sleep came to Lillian unevenly.It always did now, after days that pressed too tightly against her ribs, after evenings filled with careful smiles and words chosen for their safety rather than their truth. She lay beside Nathaniel in the darkened room, their bodies separated by inches that might as well have been miles, the silence between them no longer empty but watchful. He slept lightly, one arm bent above his head, breath measured. Even at rest, he seemed braced.When the dream took her, it did not announce itself.There were no flowers.No scent of damp earth or crushed petals. No gentle green that usually followed her into sleep. Instead, there was heat. Sudden and violent. It pressed against her skin like a second sun.She stood so