Chapter 523

Chapter 523:

Isolde slept through the entire morning in the guest cottage, pinned beneath the weight of a heavy fever, the dull ache in her shoulder from the collision with the pillar still present and persistent. She could barely lift her eyelids — until a sharp, polite knock from the butler pulled her back to consciousness.

“Miss Carson, the tea has begun. Her Ladyship requests that you and the little miss join in the main parlor p>

His tone was courteous. It allowed for no refusal.

Every muscle protested as she forced herself upright, her forehead burning hotter than the day before, her throat dry and raw. To mask her fevered, haggard face from the eyes that would be watching, she took her medication, pressed a light layer of makeup over her pallor, then took Effie’s hand — small and already dressed and quiet — and walked unsteadily toward the main house.

The parlor was full. Lancaster female relatives occupied every seat, dressed lavishly and watching with the particular attentiveness of people who enjoy finding fault. Victoria Lancaster, Grayson’s mother, sat rigid at the head of the room — cold, composed, and imposing. Belle moved around the tea table with the ease of a hostess, her eyes flicking toward the arriving mother and daughter with thinly veiled contempt.

The suffocating scrutiny of the room terrified Effie immediately. She pressed herself against Isolde’s skirt, hiding her face against her mother’s side. Isolde squeezed her hand and guided her to the farthest corner sofa, hoping to remain invisible and avoid anything resembling a confrontation.

Trouble found them within minutes.

Seraphina Lancaster crossed the room in high heels, holding a blue-and-white porcelain vase with deliberate care, a sharp smile arranged on her face as she positioned herself in Effie’s path.

“Effie, isn’t this pretty?” Seraphina’s voice was sweetly modulated, the malice running just beneath it. “Would you like to touch it p>

Effie, timid but curious, reached out one small finger. The instant her skin grazed the surface, Seraphina released the vase entirely.

Crack.

𝖥𝗂ո𝘥 n𝘰𝗏𝘦𝗅 P𝖣𝗙ѕ o𝗻

It shattered across the marble floor, shards scattering in every direction. The room went deathly silent. Every face turned toward them.

Seraphina covered her mouth with practiced horror. “Oh no! How could you be so careless! That is a priceless Ming Dynasty antique p>

Effie burst into tears, her voice high and desperate. “I didn’t — she let go! It wasn’t me p>

Victoria’s expression turned to ice. She snapped at Isolde with the precision of someone who had rehearsed the tone for years. “Is this how you have raised her? Clumsy and disrespectful p>

Belle stepped in with manufactured sympathy, lamenting the vase while positioning herself neatly alongside Seraphina.

Something inside Isolde broke loose.

The fever, the pain in her shoulder, the accumulated weight of the morning — and now this. She got to her feet so quickly that her vision swam and she had to catch herself before pulling Effie firmly behind her, her bearing hardening into something unyielding.

“Seraphina, stop the performance,” Isolde said, her voice cold and precise. “This parlor has security cameras. We will pull the footage and establish exactly who is responsible p>

Seraphina’s face went pale. She scrambled to reconstruct her outrage, but Isolde stepped closer, pointing at the shards on the floor.