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She snaps her mouth closed, but I can tell by the set of her jaw that she’ll have plenty to say about this later.
28
CORA
I stand in front of the full-length mirror in my bedroom and try my hardest to recognize the woman staring back at me.
The dress Alexander chose for me to wear tonight is a ruffled eyesore. I look like a pastel piñata. It’s really fitting, actually. They don’t physically hurt me, but I’m taking an emotional beating from every side.
I reach up and grab the gold locket around my neck. I squeeze the metal until it’s warm in my palm. I can’t tell where I stop and it begins.
Mikhail will look at it and think it’s the one he bought me. I was pleasantly surprised at how close of a dupe I was able to find at the random jewelry store we stopped off at after leaving the restaurant.
But the moment I got to my room, I hid Mikhail’s locket behind the loose piece of trim in my closet and swapped it with Ivan’s.
Wear this and I will always find you.
God, I hope he’s right.
I still have my hand wrapped around the necklace when my door explodes open. “Are you ready?” my stepfather barks.
I slowly drop the necklace and lower my hand. The last thing I want is to look guiltier than I already feel.
It’s hard because Alexander has been especially keyed-up today. He isn’t ever pleasant, but he’s been on the warpath all afternoon.
“Is anyone ever truly ready to meet their in-laws?” I drawl.
He jabs a finger at me. “None of that smart mouth at dinner. You smile. You nod. You look pretty.”
“Hard to do in this dress.”
His eyes narrow. “If you can’t handle—”
“Just getting it all out of my system.” I lower myself into a deep curtsy. “I’ll be on my best behavior, Master.”
He sneers and opens his mouth to say more. But before he can unleash his nerves on me, my mother moves behind him and places a hand on his shoulder.
“She knows what to do, Alex. It will all be okay.”
He shrugs her hand away. “I remember a similar sentiment the night before she ran away. Maybe you don’t know your daughter as well as you think you do.”
Alexander tosses one final glare in my direction before he storms into the hallway to snarl at the temporary staff he’s hired for the evening. He’s brought in at least ten new hires to fill out the decor. God forbid Konstantin Sokolov see that this house runs with only two permanent indentured servants.
“You really should try to cooperate, Cordelia,” my mother says softly.
I almost forgot she was standing in the doorway. I’ve gotten good at tuning her out. Survival instinct has me dividing everyone into friends or foes. Who is here to hurt me and who is here to help me? My mother is doing neither, so as far as I’m concerned, she might as well not exist.
“I’m in the dress. I’m going to dinner. I don’t know what more he wants from me.”
She sighs. “He’s stressed. If you could not talk back, then it would make things easier.”
“Easier for me or for you?”
A crease forms between her brows. She looks older than I remember. Like she’s aged ten years in the last three. “Why can’t it be both?”
“They’re here!” Alexander roars up the stairs at us. “Get down here. Now!”
She half-turns towards the command, but then stops and looks back at me, waiting.
