h's

d chaotic. I couldn't stand the media's q

en this way; I didn't know whe

beneath me despite the sweat clinging to the nape of my neck. T

miliat

line as I stared at the grainy footage o

eliers of the Banquet Hall in a custom Dior silver gown, holding herself like royalty, voice

she wal

lked a

agnates, the entire Lancaster boa

I whisper, but th

ood slipped between my knuckles, but I didn't notic

e hell

predictable. A silk-wrapped trophy. Sh

her, gaslighting her even when she doubted, dis

Christ's sake. I shouted while usin

ealth, her dowry, her last name. A Harrington-Lanca

ery damn financial plan I

d

els, and I'm standing in th

damn car door, a little bi

nside my

ass off the table and

as

ike stars across

er fo

just inches from the first, a high-p

ow, hands trembling, rag

lasses, tumblers, crystal goblets,

! Bang!

with the sound

rs and shatters at my feet, the room is litter

te as I fling another cryst

rble floor like blood in a cri

lace had become; I just neede

ery goddamn person that matters. I mutter t

n like a taunt. She was even walking tow

ipping onto her finger, the press capturing the moment, headlines the next day: Gol

en she

ulated takedown. I growl, pacin

across the room. The crash

ned, not the dozen missed calls from busi

ore it become

the scandal is here

he bottle directly this time, and dr

h

y

at ch

posed to know. I mutter to myself. There's no wa

not entirely clear because the Celeste I know wouldn't

leverage, maybe. Celeste thinks she

eak with a colder tongue, but somewhere deep inside, she is still

thinks I ca

no on

nd decided to visit the Lancaster estate, at

*

den in the shadow of a blackened alley, stari

e she doesn't turn off the light because s

this has confirmed it. She'd vanished immed

hell are y