(Scarlett's POV)
The Cross family home is everything I expected and nothing I prepared for.
Crystal chandeliers cast warm light over faces that smile too warmly. Everyone speaks in measured tones, their words careful and calculated. It's like watching a play where everyone knows their lines but forgot to feel the emotions.
"So you're the famous baker everyone's talking about," says a woman who introduces herself as Aunt Margaret. Her smile doesn't reach her eyes. "How... quaint."
I force my own smile to stay in place. "Thank you."
"Margaret." Dorian's voice carries a warning.
She laughs, the sound like breaking glass. "Oh, don't be so serious, darling. I'm just making conversation."
But Elena Cross saves me from more of Margaret's passive-aggressive comments by taking my arm and lea
