[Isolde]
By the time we finally managed to escape that suffocating dining room, my heart was still racing so fast I could feel it pounding against my ribs.
The family had eventually agreed to "discuss it further" amongst themselves—but not before I'd been thoroughly insulted for "whoring around despite being a married woman." Every word seemed to hit harder than the last.
I hated that I was still legally tied to Johnny. Hated that those legal papers gave everyone permission to judge me, to call me names, to treat me like I was the villain in this situation.
As we stepped into the hallway and Harlan quietly shut the heavy dining room door behind us, something inside me snapped.
My hand sprang out before I could think better of it, and I slapped Nikolai hard across the cheek. Hard.
I
