Chapter 16 D X THERESE'S POV After the engagement was announced and I read thousands of comments in the comment box , I watched myself in the mirror . The one inside the glass looked like me but didn't feel like me . She wore diamonds and satin but had eyes that belonged to someone else . Someone who died in silence years ago . The mirror was old . Towering . Framed in gold . They said it came from the French Revolution . I believed it . It felt like it held ghosts . Maybe one of them was me . Behind my reflection , Ephraim appeared . He didn't walk in like most men . He didn't need to . He moved like smoke and always ended up where I was , like he was summoned by my thoughts before I even called him . He stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist . His voice came low against my neck . " Do you want me to destroy them for you , " he said , " or do you want to use your own bloodline for the kill ? " I looked at him through the glass and didn't blink . My voice came out calm , but I could feel the hatred swimming underneath it . " Your bloodline is darker than mine , " I told him . " And more powerful . My father only took me back to give me his name again . But not his war . He made that clear the second I said yes to you . " Ephraim smiled against my shoulder and kissed it . " Then use mine , " he said . " Use me . I take pleasure in ruining anyone who ever dares to lay hands on what belongs to me . " I closed my eyes and let my hands rest on his . " Then we burn them slow ," I whispered . He said nothing for a while . He just held me . That kind of silence … it was heavy , but not suffocating . It felt like the calm before a storm I'd waited years to cause . ** Later that night , I walked into the estate's private salon alone . It was quiet , like the whole wing held its breath . The lights were low . The room smelled like jasmine and old books . I stood in front of the same mirror again , but this time , I brought scissors with me . My fingers trembled when I opened the blades . I took one long breath and grabbed a thick strand of hair . The first snip was loud . Almost too loud . The strands fell , one by one , curling on the marble floor like pieces of a woman I used to be . Chapter 15 22.10 Sun , Aug 49 % X I didn't cry . Not once . I just kept cutting . Until the softness was gone . Until my neck felt bare and my head felt lighter . Until I looked up and saw someone sharper . Colder . And finally calm . I stared at her . I didn't recognize her , but I didn't flinch . Ephraim found me there . He stood at the doorway for a long time without speaking . Then he finally said , " Now the world will finally see the face of their reckoning ." I met his eyes in the mirror . I didn't need to smile . I just said , " Let them . " But that night , I can't sleep . Ephraim was already out cold in the master bedroom , stretched across the velvet sheets like some ancient king who never lost anything . He was always calm . Always untouched . Like he'd never seen a night that stole breath from your chest . I envied that about him . I hated it too . I didn't want to lie beside someone who felt peace when I was crumbling inside , so I went to the guest room in the east wing . It was too clean and too white and too damn cold . The kind of cold that crawled into your bones and stayed . But I didn't care . Nothing felt like home anymore . At two in the morning , I slipped out barefoot onto the terrace . The stone floor was sharp and freezing and honest . I welcomed the bite because it reminded me I was still alive . I I brought the bourbon with me . No glass . Just the bottle . Just the burn . Just pain and liquor in equal measure . The moon was out . Full and high and glowing like it had no business watching someone like me . Everything beautiful felt cruel now . Even the stars looked like they were laughing . I took a long swig and felt the fire slide down my throat . It burned , but not nearly enough . Not compared to the fire that's been living in my chest since that day . My fingers found the necklace around my neck . The one with the tiny glass locket . The one that held what was left of Cleo . Her ashes . What little was left after Torren dropped the urn . Like it was nothing . Like she was nothing . And Jude . That filthy brat . He kicked the remains like it was dirt . Laughed while he did it . While I screamed . While I begged them to stop . I remember scraping the ashes off the floor with my bare hands . Shaking . Crying . Feeling like I was losing her all over again . There wasn't even enough left for a proper memorial . Not enough to bury . Not enough to honor . Just fragments . I went to a local artisan that same night . Still in my funeral dress . Still smelling like death . Chapter 16 . 22:10 Sun , Aug 10 … ) . and smoke . I begged him to make me something . Anything . He told me it wasn't enough . I told him to shut up and do it anyway . So he did . And now it hangs around my neck like both a noose and a weapon . I clutched it hard and whispered , " I'm sorry , baby . I should've taken you and left sooner . I should've never let them near you . " The wind picked up and I tilted my head back . I let it slap me in the face . It felt fair . It felt deserved . The alcohol was hitting me hard now . Everything blurred . My chest hurt . My throat was raw . I laughed , loud and bitter and broken . " They killed you ," I said out loud , " and they still sleep at night like they didn't . " I looked up at the sky like it had answers and I whispered their names . " Torren . Ruby . Jude . All of them . Every single one . " My hand trembled and the bottle slipped . It shattered on the floor near my feet and a sharp piece caught my palm when I reached for it like a fool . The pain was sharp and hot and sudden , and I didn't even react . I just stared at the blood mixing with the bourbon and the broken glass .