Chapter 2

The day I was discharged, Daniel wanted to take me to his safe house.

I said, "Take me to Lucien's first."

He gripped the steering wheel and looked at me, his tone wounded. "You're still going to see him?"

"I need my documents. And the old Carter family records."

Daniel was quiet for a moment, then said softly, "Emily, you don't have to carry everything alone anymore. You have me."

I stared out the window and didn't answer.

Back at the Blake estate, I pushed open the door. Sophia sat in the living room drinking coffee.

My holster lay beside her. My red coat was draped over her shoulders.

She looked up, stood casually, and said, "Emily, you're back. Lucien's worried I'll have nightmares again, so he asked me to stay here a few days."

Sophia was the girl my father had adopted years ago.

He'd pulled her from the fire at the old port, brought her into the Carter family, given her a name, a home, and protection.

But she'd never been grateful. She wanted to take everything that was mine.

I braced myself against the doorframe. Didn't step inside.

Lucien was coming out of the study. He saw me and frowned. "Who are you?"

The air froze. My thin fingers tightened on the doorframe. Sophia couldn't help it—she let out a small laugh.

"Lucien, that's Emily."

Daniel's expression darkened. "She's your fiancée. Because you saved someone else, she's got steel rods in her leg, and the first thing you say is who are you?"

Lucien's face stiffened. His tone softened as he turned to me. "Sorry. The prosopagnosia."

The same old excuse. But this time, miraculously, my heart didn't ache.

"It was chaotic. I couldn't tell who was who."

"Sophia wasn't wearing red. She didn't have silver bells. So how did you know it was her?"

Before Lucien could answer, Sophia's eyes reddened. "Emily, I'm sorry. Maybe it's because Lucien knows I went through the fire at the old port as a child—he knows I'm terrified of flames, so he got me out first."

Her pitiful look ignited Lucien's anger completely. He pulled Sophia behind him.

"You know she has trauma, and you're interrogating her to her face!"

I lifted my head to look at him. "And my broken leg—what does that count for?"

His expression shifted. He shut his mouth.

Sophia lowered her head. "Maybe I should move out. The Carter family succession meeting is coming up soon. I don't want to cause problems for Emily."

Lucien stopped her. "You're not going anywhere."

He looked at me. "Sophia is also an adopted daughter of the Carter family. She has every right to sit in."

"Emily, stop being difficult."

He stared at me, expecting me to give in like I always had—to sigh, then nod.

But I looked at him and said, evenly, "Lucien Blake, we're done. The engagement is off."