Scarlett’s POV
The floorboard creaked shut over the hidden journal, but the noise echoed louder than I intended. My heart was still racing, her face was still in my head. The girl from the lake. The girl I may have left in the water. The girl who might be Eliran.
I needed to breathe.
But more than that, I needed to see Maria.
Her presence in the Carrington house still irritated me like a splinter I couldn’t reach. Jasper’s decision to bring her back into our lives had nearly shattered me. Maria betrayed me, she chose Cassie. And now she was walking these halls again like nothing ever happened.
I stepped into the corridor. The mansion was quieter than usual. The staff were busy and the shadows on the walls stretched like watching eyes.
I walked toward the servant’s wing, heels quiet a
