Eris sat on the cushioned couch, her gaze sharp as it lingered on the lilac roses arranged meticulously around the room. Her nails dug softly into the fabric beneath her fingers as she waited in tense silence. When the heavy doors finally creaked open, her golden eyes snapped to the man who had played her for a fool. The anger simmering within her was quiet but potent, threatening to boil over.
"Greetings, Your Grace," she said, her voice restrained, her golden irises following Ezekiel's every movement.
"L-Lady Ashcroft," he stammered, his gaze refusing to meet hers. He could feel the weight of her veiled fury pressing into him, tightening like a vice around his chest. Gone was the confident duke who had courted Sienna. Before Eris, his gaze softened, filled with yearning and a vulnerability he could not conceal.
"I never knew you were such a cowardly man," she began, her tone sharp and biting, her chin raised in defiance. "Too weak to break the news to me yourself. How pathetic."
"It isn't like that," Ezekiel protested, stepping closer. "I have my reasons."
"Reasons?" she snapped, pulling her hands away as he tried to hold them. Her glare hardened, a look of disgust flashing across her face.
"My lady," he began, his voice thick with longing as his green eyes searched hers for any trace of understanding. Tentatively, he lifted a hand toward her face, only to let it fall back to his side. "I thought you, of all people, would understand me. Hear me out. This is what is expected of me—what I must do to secure my title. I—"
"How is that any of my concern?" she interrupted, her voice like a whip, cold and unforgiving. "Do you expect me to be swayed by your empty words? Your honeyed excuses? I won't be moved by this pathetic display."
"Can you just listen to me?" he snapped, his voice hardening in frustration.
"Listen to what?" she shot back, venom dripping from her tone. "Your pathetic moaning and excuses? You've made a mockery of me, Ezekiel. You humiliated me—used me as nothing more than a bauble to decorate your arm before discarding me like trash. You are pathetic."
"Eris," he growled, his once affectionate green eyes now shadowed with an eerie red. "I am still Duke Loxley, and I will not tolerate this tone from you. Know your place."
She flinched at the harshness of his words but held her ground.
"Sienna is a necessity," he continued, stepping closer to her. "I have to marry her to secure my title, but my affection—my care—it remains with you. I love you, Eris."
The confession hung heavily in the air, but she did not falter. Instead, she took a deliberate step back, curtsying with practiced grace.
"Apologies, Your Grace," she said, her voice detached and cold. "This mere human seems to have forgotten her place and overstepped. I will ensure it never happens again."
"Eris..." He reached for her, desperation seeping into his voice, but she pulled away, her movements deliberate and precise.
"Please excuse me. I will be taking my leave," she said, turning on her heel and walking away without a second glance.
The door clicked shut behind her, leaving Ezekiel standing alone in the middle of his study, surrounded by the silence and the lilac roses that now felt suffocatingly empty.