up to the wedding

resa. The oppressive silence of the estate felt like it was suffocating her, and with

fferent. Today, she wa

on her door came. She hadn't expected it; Ter

, a soft tap. A comman

other side, polite but firm, "We've brought

She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to wear the dre

d and opened the door

aying any emotion. Behind her, a tailor stood with a rolling rack of wedd

id, her voice low, "I

g just slightly. "Miss Rayne," she said gently,

clenched. "N

acknowledging the tension that had just thick

still calm but laced with a quiet threat, "yo

owed. She had no doubt tha

he defiance burned inside her, but the fear of being d

rom the door, reluctantly g

lina couldn't place-that flickered in her eyes. The tailor entered the

olling hills of the estate, trying to block out the image of

ight, and for a brief moment, Alina could see how it would look on her. She could already picture herself

voice laced with contempt. "The plai

ker of surprise crossing

voice hard. "I don't want to

t was simpler-still elegant, but understated. The fabric was a soft ivory silk, wit

s per

escape the reality of the situation. She wished she could block out the sharp, cold

-a small scar on Teresa's arm. It was faint, just a thin line that ran alon

, on other women, in other places-the kind of scar that wasn't

stomac

ooded her thoughts. Had Teresa been here befo

ng the gown. She could see the older woman's hands tremble ever so

er if Teresa had once been l

over, and Teresa stepped

," she said, but th

that beauty was nothing but a mask. That the dre

tongue. There w

red to her room, her mind heavy with thoughts of th

her eye-a small envelope under her pill

s she picked it up, her he

e broke the seal and pulle

standing in front of a playground. She was smiling brightly

ng beside her

photo-so much younger, but unmistakable-holding

r collapse as she stared at the photograph, wond

Had he been watching her all th

eep sense of horror

Who the hell are you?" she whispered into the silence, her voice hoarse