The room felt suffocating as I stared down at the letter in my hands, my mind struggling to grasp what Mrs. Finch had just revealed. The walls of the mansion, the home I had spent so many years in, suddenly felt like they were closing in on me. I had always believed my family—my father, in particular—stood for something greater than just power. He was a man of principle, a man I admired. But now, everything had been called into question.
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I thought of Emilia. The look in her eyes when she had learned the truth—her mother, forced to leave, betrayed by the man she loved. And then, to learn that my father, the man I had once considered a beacon of strength and respectability, had played a part in destroying her mother's life? It was impossible to wrap my head around.
