hapter 11
ROSALIE
The message glared up at me from my phone, the words piercing through the fragile sense of calm I’d managed to build tonight.
“Enjoying yourself, Rosebud?” I said it out loud.
+13)
My breath hitched, my hands trembling as I clutched the phone tighter. Damien’s words were sharp, laced with an unmistakable edge of threat. He knew. He’d seen me with Jake, caught me mid–laugh, mid–dance. And now, I could feel him -his anger, his control–closing in on me like an iron cage.
“Rosalie?” Jake’s voice cut through my spiraling thoughts, bringing me back to the present. I looked up, my vision slightly blurred. He was watching me, concern etched into his features. “Hey, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I forced a smile, though it felt more like a grimace. “It’s nothing,” I lied, my voice shaky. “Just… a little dizzy, I think. Too much champagne, maybe.”
Jake frowned, clearly unconvinced. “Are you sure? You were fine just a second ago. You’re shaking.”
“I’m fine,” I insisted, slipping my phone into my purse, desperate to end the conversation before Damien sent something worse. “Really, Jake.”
He didn’t buy it, stepping closer, his brows knitting together. “Rosalie, come on. You’re pale as a sheet. If something’s wrong, you can tell me, aren’t we friends again? Is someone bothering you here?” His voice softened at the end.
I stiffened, panic prickling under my skin. Before I could answer, my phone buzzed again. Another message.
I quickly slipped it out and read it.
“If you love yourself–and that poor fool–tell him to walk away.”
Every nerve in my body jolted, the blood draining from my face. I could feel Jake watching me, feel the questions forming on his lips. But I couldn’t let him ask. I couldn’t let him get involved.
“Jake,” I began, forcing my voice into something close to calm, “thank you for worrying, but it’s really nothing. Just stress catching up with me.”
work
He didn’t move, his eyes narrowing in quiet suspicion. “Work stress?” he repeated, disbelief thick in his tone. “Rosalie, you’re scared. I can see it.”
“I’m not,” I said quickly, too quickly. I tried to move past him, but he stepped into my path.
“Then why are you trembling?” His voice was gentle, but firm. “You don’t have to pretend. If something’s happening, want to help.”
My heart hammered against my ribs. I couldn’t do this. Not here, not now. “Please,” I whispered, my voice cracking, “just let it go.”
He studied me for a long moment, something like frustration mingling with the concern in his eyes. But finally, he stepped aside. “Okay,” he said quietly. “But if you need me—”
“I’ll be fine,” I interrupted, grateful and guilty all at once. “Thank you, Jake.”
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Chapter 11
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Without waiting for a response, I turned and hurried away, weaving through the crowd. My pulse was erratic, and my breath felt trapped in my chest. Every step felt like I was dragging myself through quicksand. And that’s when I heard it–a familiar voice, sharp and intrusive.
“Rosalie?”
I turned, colliding directly into my sister, Charlotte. She steadied me with a hand on my arm, her eyes gleaming with curiosity and something else–something cruel.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she said, echoing Jake’s earlier words but with far less sympathy. “What’s got you so rattled?”
I plastered on a fake smile, hoping it would be enough to placate her. “Nothing,” I said, my voice strained. “I just need some air.”
Charlotte’s perfectly arched brow lifted. “Air? In the middle of a ballroom? Rosalie, really, you should at least try to act like you belong at these events.” Her eyes swept over me, her gaze cold and cutting. “But I suppose it’s not your fault. You never were invited to any of Father’s important functions, were you?”
My hands curled into fists at my sides, nail
need to humiliate me further. But she
biting into my palms. I didn’t respond, knowing any retort would only fuel her
done.
“Look at you,” she continued, her voice saccharine with false concern. “Restless, jittery. You look like a deer caught in headlights.” Her smile widened, a perfect mask of pity. “I guess it’s no surprise, though. You never did have the poise for events like this. Always more comfortable in the background, weren’t you?”
Goosebumps raced across my skin. Not from her words, but from the overwhelming sensation that Damien was near, watching. My breath hitched, and I tried to ignore the way the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.
“Charlotte,” I snapped, unable to keep my voice steady any longer, “I don’t have time for this.”
She blinked, taken aback by my sudden sharpness. “Excuse me?”
“I said I don’t have time,” I repeated, my voice low and shaking with suppressed anger. “Go find someone else to torment.”
Before she could reply, I turned on my heel and stalked away, every nerve in my body screaming for me to get out, to find some place–any place–where I could breathe. The restroom. I needed to get to the restroom.
I shoved the door open and stumbled inside, my chest heaving as I reached the sink. The cold water rushed over my trembling hands, and I splashed it onto my face, willing myself to calm down. But the reflection staring back at me in the mirror wasn’t calm. It was a frightened, cornered animal.
“Calm down,” I whispered to myself, splashing cold water on my face. “Get it together.”
But the fear wouldn’t dissipate. It clung to me, tightening like a noose. I gripped the edges of the sink, trying to steady myself.
And then I felt it.
A presence behind me.
I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.
The air shifted, the temperature dropping as if the room itself recognized his presence before I did. My heart sank, the icy dread spreading through my veins.
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Chapter 11
“Rosalie,” Damien’s voice was smooth, low, and terrifyingly close.
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I met his gaze in the mirror, and the fear I’d been trying so desperately to suppress surged to the surface. He stood behind me, his expression calm but his eyes glinting with a dangerous intensity that sent shivers racing down my spine.
“Having a good time?” he asked, his voice a soft menace. “It certainly looked like you were.”
I couldn’t speak, couldn’t move.
“You can’t talk now? But moments ago, you were full of life. You seemed to be enjoying yourself,” he murmured, stepping closer, his reflection looming behind mine. “Dancing, laughing… I almost thought you forgot whose wife you are.”
I opened my mouth to defend myself, but no words came. The fear was paralyzing, wrapping itself around my throat like a
vise.
Damien leaned in, his voice a whisper that sliced through the silence. “I warned you, Rosebud.”
The endearment was a mockery now.
My fingers gripped the edge of the sink, my knuckles white, as I stared at the reflection of the man who held all the power- and I knew it.
