Chapter Thirty-Three
*The Unwanted Care*
The grand Lax townhouse was quiet, but the air in the formal sitting room was thick with a restless energy. The drama of the dinner had left its stain.
Aurora sat in her usual high-backed chair, her knotted hands resting on the head of her cane. She wasn't sleeping; her sharp eyes were fixed on the middle distance, seeing not the room, but the evening's ugly tableau replaying.
Regina paced. Her movements were precise, a controlled prowl along the edge of the Persian rug. The click of her heels was the only sound breaking the heavy silence. Her mind was a storm of calculations and reassessments.
Mrs. Byeon bustled in, breaking the tension with a tray. "I brought fruit salad," she announced, her voice too bright. "Very calming for the nerves. Ful
