Page 46 of A Vicious Love

It was better than good.

It was clean, profitable, politically elegant, and it brought medical shipping corridors back under Bellemere influence.

Everyone was thrilled.

My uncles toasted until their faces turned pink. My father smiled so widely he looked young. Even my mother congratulated Elodie’s mother with both hands and a kiss beside the cheek.

But her smile had sharp edges.

Because Elodie had done what I had not.

She had converted herself from daughter to asset without delay, scandal, or a fiancé who looked at her like breathing near him was a crime.

By dinner the next night, my mother’s resentment had turned sharper.

It was a family dinner, which meant no outsiders, or protection from people who might pretend not to hear.

Just us.

My father at the head of the table, glowing with pride.

My mother beside him, cold with resentment.

My three sisters seated with their husbands. My two brothers with their wives. Children upstairs under nanny supervision.

And me.

Twenty years old.

Unmarried.

Still failing to turn a debt into an alliance.

Candles burned down the center of the table between arrangements.

Staff moved silently around us while my family discussed Elodie’s wedding.

“It was a spectacular match,” my eldest brother, Julian said, slicing into his lamb. “Aurelius gains ports, we regain corridor voting power. Very clean.”

“Her father negotiated beautifully,” my second sister added.

My father smiled into his wine. “He did. Though Elodie made it easy. No delays.”

My fork paused over my plate. The first little hook.

“Some daughters understand timing.” My mother did not look at me when she answered.

I looked down at my plate.

My youngest sister, Sabine, shifted uncomfortably. She was six months pregnant and still sweet enough to hate cruelty when it happened in front of her, even if she didn’t know how to stop it.

“Mother,” she said softly.

“What?” My mother lifted her glass. “I’m complimenting Elodie.”

No one believed her.

Everyone knew exactly where the blood was on the floor. They simply stepped around it.