After Cecilia left, my phone suddenly rang—it was a call from Vicki.
I hit the answer button and pressed the phone to my ear.
"Oh, Ashley! You won't believe the pathetic mess Blackwood Pack has turned into!" Vicki's overly dramatic voice practically burst through the speaker, filled with a kind of amused glee. "Ever since you walked away, the whole manor's been like a boiling pot of garbage! That Silvia—what a total disaster! The woman can't even read a basic winter supplies list. And get this: last night, when there was an accounting mistake and everyone started questioning her, she just passed out right there in the Council Hall!"
I couldn't help but wonder—was Silvia seriously using fainting as her one-size-fits-all solution to dodge her responsibilities? And Brian, as the Al
