Lily’s POV
Victoria’s words haunted me long after she walked away.
“You slipped. That’s the story. One word to him and your mother pays the price.”
She hadn’t needed to raise her voice. It was the way she said it–like it was already done. Like the moment I opened my mouth, something terrible would fall from the sky and crush everything I loved.
I could still feel her fingers digging into my jaw when she whispered it. Still hear her heels clicking against the stairs as she left me there, clutching my burning arm, barely able to breathe.
By the time Martha knocked on my door and told me the young master had summoned me, my legs were already weak from the fear.
I changed clothes slowly. My back screamed every time I moved. My knees still ached from kneeling on marble all afternoon. The
