The Redwood estate hadn’t changed.
The banners still waved with pride above the council towers, the gardens still bloomed in symmetry, and the halls still echoed with order and ceremony.
But something was different.
Sophia was no longer a guest.
She walked through the iron gates, not with grace—but with purpose. The guards bowed. The courtiers stepped aside. The air seemed to shift around her like glass about to c***k.
She had come under the pretense of continuing the alliance project.
But what she truly came for... was war.
Not with swords or wolves.
With truth.
And the woman who’d buried it beneath charm and crocodile tears.
---
Maddy looked as perfect as ever--her robe of glowing rose silk, her hair artlessly bound with ivory threads, her smile as dazzlingly finished as ever.
