"Think it over. When you've come to your senses, call for us."
My fingers clawed into the mud.
Nails cracked from the force, blood mixing with dirt, the pain boring straight to the bone.
"Wait."
I lifted my head and forced sound through a throat so raw it barely obeyed.
"Tell Giles."
"I'll apologize."
"I'm going back for one thing. Once I have it, I'm gone."
"I will never set foot in the Gilbert house again."
The two guards exchanged a glance, then one of them made the call.
Before long, a blinding set of high beams sliced through the dark.
Giles had come himself.
He got out, walked over, and stood above me, looking down at the mud and filth covering every inch of me.
Something shifted behind his eyes, too fast for me to read.
Then it was gone, replaced by open mockery.
"Beulah. So your pride was worth exactly one night in the dark?"
"Could've spared yourself the trouble."
He reached down to haul me off the ground.
The instant his warm palm touched my frozen arm, my body betrayed me with a shiver, some old reflex left over from years of needing him.
But the next second, a violent wave of nausea surged up from my stomach.
I wrenched his hand away and collapsed forward, retching against the dirt.
Giles's expression turned ugly.
He grabbed me roughly off the ground, shoved me into the car.
Neither of us spoke on the drive back.
At the villa, Lucinda was draped across the sofa looking delicate and pampered, a servant attending to her every need.
The moment she saw me, a smile of pure satisfaction spread across her face.
Giles pushed me in front of her and clamped both hands down on my shoulders.
"Kneel."
Cold. Not a voice—just ice shaped into a word.
I didn't fight it.
My knees struck the cold marble floor with a dull, heavy crack.
The wound across my abdomen split wider with every breath, blood soaking through the thin fabric of my pants in a spreading stain.
I kept my head bowed like a puppet with nothing left inside, repeating the same hollow apologies on loop.
"I'm sorry."
"I shouldn't have made you angry."
"I shouldn't have hurt you."
Lucinda savored every second of my humiliation, ordering the servants around like she was showing off a new toy.
"Go get Mrs. Gilbert's favorite jewelry set. I want to try it on."
"And that limited-edition bag. I want that too."
Giles stood there, cold-eyed, and let it happen.
He thought he'd won.
He thought he'd snapped the last bone of my pride.