It was a tense situation when I received an envelope from one of my guards. The envelope landed in my hands before I even reached the table, its weight a palpable warning. Crafted from heavy, matte paper and sealed with glistening black wax, it bore no crest, no signature, only my name, scrawled in a jagged, unsettling script across the front.
My heart raced as I tore it open, the sharp sound of paper cracking echoing in the tense silence. Inside lay a note, its cruel brevity striking me like a physical blow.
*Meet us. Alone, or the girl will pay the price.*
I felt my fingers tighten around the paper until it crumpled, the anger swirling inside me igniting like a wildfire. Ellie's face flashed before my eyes. Her wide, terrified gaze as she peered out the window, the way her hands trembled when the maid's betrayal shattered our fragile trust. They weren't just threatening her; they were using her as bait to ensnare me in their sinister game.
"What a cowardly move," I spat out, slamming the note onto the desk with a force that rattled the office supplies.
Edward's expression remained stoic, yet I caught a fleeting flicker of concern in his eyes. "They're forcing your hand, Tristan," he said evenly, his tone a cold reminder of the reality we faced. "This is a trap."
"Then I'll gladly walk into it," I growled, the words pouring out like molten steel. "If I don't, they'll try again, and maybe next time, they'll succeed."
Edward's jaw clenched tight as stone; he didn't argue, but his silence roared louder than any words could.
They wanted me rattled. They wanted her vulnerable, but I swore to make them regret ever targeting Ellie.
-
I hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but the muffled voices drifting down the hall were impossible to ignore. Tristan's anger was unmistakable, a low growl that resonated with a deep, primal fury, while my name sliced through the air, sharp and unforgiving, like a dagger aiming straight for my heart.
I froze outside the study, my pulse thundering in my ears. An invitation to danger, a trap, and here I was, the bait.
Suddenly, the walls of this grand house felt constricting, suffocating as if they were closing in around me. I pressed my back against the cool, polished wood of the door, fighting against the panic that clawed at my chest. I didn't want to be the reason Tristan was thrust into peril; I didn't want to be the weight around his neck.
But even as dread tightened its grip on my thoughts, a flicker of defiance emerged. This war wasn't mine to start, yet it had found me regardless. If I surrendered, if I allowed them to manipulate me, then I would become exactly what they wanted, a weak woman hiding behind a man's shadow.
When Tristan stormed out of the study with the crumpled note clenched in his fist, he halted abruptly at the sight of me. The fury that raged in his eyes quickly melted into worry, softening his fierce expression.
"You heard us," he stated, his voice low and filled with concern.
I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat that threatened to choke me. " No more, Tristan. I'm not running anymore," I managed to say, my voice trembling yet resolute as I met his gaze with unwavering intensity. "Whatever this is, I won't let them break me, or break us."
For a heartbeat, the fire in his eyes dimmed, replaced by something more profound, an emotion that resonated with raw vulnerability. He cupped my cheek gently, his thumb brushing away the escaped tear I hadn't even realized had fallen.
"They'll never touch you," he vowed, the intensity of his words wrapping around me like a cloak of protection. "Not while I'm breathing."
And despite the dread coiling like a serpent deep in my stomach, I found myself believing him.