The sun was setting, casting long, orange shadows across the dusty road that led back to the Thompson estate. The carriage ride had been silent and suffocating. Beatrice, the Dowager Duchess, had punished them. She had sent Ashlyn and Carlos to one of the family Orchard, a remote property on the very edge of the Thompson lands, to "inspect the harvest and learn the value of hard work."
It had been three days of dust, heat, and sleeping in a drafty, old farmhouse. It was a humiliation. They were nobility, yet they had been sent away like naughty children.
Now, they were finally back in their own chambers. Ashlyn felt grime on her skin and a deep ache in her bones. She wanted a hot bath. She wanted to forget the smell of rotting apples and the judgment in the Dowager's eyes.
She pushed the door to their bedroom open, expecting peace. Instead, she walked into a disaster.
