lia

ieve

lways known he would

, a fair man. That he wouldn't condemn her based on Elar

sliver of hope was a lu

d, a bitter, self-mocking

nto, hoping to melt his cold heart. The man she h

e ye

long y

But Elara had married his cousin, and Genevieve had foolishly believed that

on the sole condition that she look af

later, he could say the word "divorc

ho stood across from her like an oppon

indifference. He looked at her with the same detached chill

been s

e you, nothing you do

get a divorce!" Eleanor glared at her, a

er eyes. "I did everything in my power for the patient. If you doubt my treatment, you can requ

d barely lef

bbed a finger toward Genevieve's face, an

H

e all conspired together at that hospital? Elara told me everything! You've bee

! Arthur! Lock her in the storage room! She c

she gets no food! Just enough

d age, in a society governed by law, they were actually t

Instead, her eye

and stubborn enough to need one la

me when you've thought it through," he said, his voice flat. "

ays. We'll see how stubborn she is then!" Ivy had always hated Genevieve, convinced she had trapped Juli

what any of them thought. From the very beginn

am a doctor. I would never administer the wrong treatment. You've alway

ed at him, her

his favor. She was onl

atter properly and give her

was

all she received

m and hauled her towa

gh the narrowing gap, she watched Ju

s were filled with nothing but frost. Not

t dark, chilling gaze. A vast emptiness hollowed out her chest as

long she was in th

mp chill of the floor b

ck with a cold,

t her skin, their faint squeaks

t collapsed on the cold floor, the love that had once burned

space, she lost

pen, and a harsh blade of sunli

he light. "Ready to admit you

. If she was, she should go to the

f affection she'd held

ldn't tell if she was reluctant to let go of three y

u can, just give me some time. I will go to the hospital and find the trut

ng one last attempt to salvage

ime to cover up the truth?" The mock

ld be his answer, but

's shadows. Stubbornly, she forced herself to ask one last question. "Julian... in th

gh escaped his lips. The sheer ridicule in

e a slap, a brutal remind

ed, her face ashen. "Fine. I was a

ate smile touched her li

brow furrowed as he stared at

break her. That she would compromise, fall in line,

ted to hear the word

She was stil

on his face and let out a so

wonder he looked so stunned now th

l reeling, she said it again, her voice clear

fted her foot and stepp

the damp chill, and her back ached from the cane strikes. She could almost

her steps d

erett family. And leaving the marriage she