Cassian's POV
The door to Adrian's chambers nearly broke off its hinges when Cassian slammed it open.
She's alive. The words tore from his throat. Elara is alive.
Adrian dropped the book he was reading, his eyes going wide. What? How
Lady Seraphine. Cassian collapsed into a chair, his whole body shaking. It's her. I'd know those eyes anywhere. I'd know her anywhere.
The merchant queen from the Shadow Kingdom? Adrian stood slowly. That's impossible. Elara died three years ago. We found her body
We found a body. Cassian's hands clenched into fists. But it wasn't her. She's alive, Adrian. And she hates me so much I can feel it like a physical thing.
Adrian poured them both wine with steady hands, the kind of steady that came from years of cleaning up Cassian's messes. Tell me everything.
So Cassian did. The throne room recognition. The dinner where she'd dismissed him like he was nothing. The garden confrontation where three years of pain had exploded between them.
She slapped me, he finished quietly. Four times. And I deserved every one.
Probably deserved more, Adrian muttered, then held up his hands at Cassian's glare. I'm just saying, you did divorce her publicly, accuse her of treason, and let your mother destroy her.
I was trying to save her life!
Did you tell her that?
Yes! And she said I should have fought for her instead! Cassian stood, pacing like a caged animal. What was I supposed to do, Adrian? Start a civil war? Watch them execute her for fake treason charges?
You could have trusted her enough to tell her the truth, Adrian said quietly. You could have said, 'I'm being forced to do this, but I'll find a way to fix it.' Instead, you said nothing. Just stared through her like she didn't exist.
The words hit like arrows because they were true.
I thought silence would protect her. Cassian's voice broke. I thought if I showed no emotion, my mother would think I didn't care and leave Elara alone.
How'd that work out?
Cassian's fist slammed into the wall, splitting his knuckles. My mother sent assassins. Elara told me tonight—they chased her through the forest. She jumped off a cliff to escape them.
Adrian went pale. Gods. I knew Valeria was ruthless, but attempted murder—
It wasn't attempted. Cassian stared at his bleeding hand. Elara said she drowned. Felt herself dying. Only survived because the river carried her to the Shadow Kingdom.
And now she's back. Adrian's voice was grim. As one of the most powerful merchants in six kingdoms. Cassian, this is bad.
I know.
No, I don't think you do. Adrian pulled out a folder from his desk—thick with papers, all marked with his personal seal. I've been investigating the divorce for three years. Gathering evidence. I was going to present it to you once I had everything.
He spread the papers across his desk. Bank records. Witness testimonies. Forged documents.
The Grand Chancellor fabricated every piece of evidence against Elara, Adrian said, pointing to documents. He paid scribes to forge letters. Bribed witnesses to claim they saw her meeting with foreign spies. Even planted fake correspondence in her chambers.
Cassian's vision went red. I'll kill him.
Get in line. Your mother ordered it all. Adrian pulled out more papers. But here's what you don't know—she also hired the Shadow Blades. The best assassins in the empire. Paid them fifty thousand gold to make sure Elara didn't survive her exile.
Fifty thousand. The amount made Cassian's stomach turn.
I found the payment records two years ago, Adrian continued. Traced it back to your mother's private accounts. She wanted Elara dead, Cassian. And she almost succeeded.
Why didn't you tell me? Cassian demanded.
Because you were already half-insane with guilt! Adrian's voice rose. You'd stopped eating, stopped sleeping. You executed Celeste in a rage. You were systematically destroying everyone involved in the plot. If I'd told you your own mother tried to murder your wife, you would've killed her.
I should have, Cassian said coldly.
And started a civil war? The Empress Dowager still has allies, still controls half the military. Adrian's expression was grim. I was waiting until you had enough power to move against her without destroying the empire.
Cassian sank back into his chair, the weight of three years of mistakes crushing him.
What do I do? he whispered. Adrian, she won't even look at me. She said I'm dead to her.
Can you blame her?
No. The word was hollow. But I can't lose her again. I can't.
Adrian studied him for a long moment. Then you need to prove you've changed. Stop trying to explain or justify what you did. Just show her—with actions, not words—that you're different now.
How?
Start by destroying the people who hurt her. Adrian tapped the evidence. The Grand Chancellor. Your mother. Every noble who laughed while she was dragged away. Show Elara you're willing to burn down everything—including your own family—to get justice for her.
Cassian looked at the papers. At proof of his mother's crimes. At evidence that could topple the Empress Dowager from power.
Do it, he said quietly. Prepare everything. We move against them at the Summit.
Cassian—
I mean it. His voice turned to steel. Elara said I chose my throne over her heart. So I'll prove I choose differently now. Even if it costs me everything.
Elara's POV
Drink this. Zara shoved a cup of strong tea into my hands. You look like death.
I feel like death. I collapsed onto the couch in my quarters, still shaking from the garden confrontation. He wore my wedding ring, Zara. Around his neck. For three years.
Manipulative bastard, she muttered.
Is it though? I stared into the tea. He looked—broken. Like he's been torturing himself as much as I want to torture him.
Good. He should suffer. Zara sat across from me, her expression hard. Don't let him get in your head. That's what he wants.
I know. But my voice lacked conviction.
Zara studied me with those sharp eyes that saw everything. You still love him.
I hate him, I said automatically.
You can do both. She leaned forward. But if you're going to survive this, you need to decide which emotion is stronger. Because love will make you weak. Hate will keep you sharp.
I thought about Cassian's face when I slapped him. The way he just stood there and took it. The desperate hope in his eyes when he said he'd never stop fighting for me.
I don't know, I admitted. I don't know what I feel anymore.
Then focus on what you do know. Zara pulled out papers from her bag—documents covered in numbers and official seals. While you were having your emotional breakdown in the gardens, I was doing actual work.
Despite everything, I smiled. What did you find?
The Grand Chancellor is embezzling from the imperial treasury. She spread the documents across the table. Millions of gold over the past ten years. He's been cooking the books, creating fake expenses, and funneling money into private accounts.
I leaned forward, my merchant mind immediately analyzing the numbers. This is enough to execute him.
Ten times over. Zara's smile was sharp. He's been stealing from the empire while pretending to be its most loyal servant.
Perfect. I felt my revenge-focused clarity returning. We expose him at the Summit. In front of all the foreign merchants and nobles. Destroy his reputation, his power, everything.
That's my girl. Zara grinned. I knew you'd
A knock at the door interrupted her. One of my guards entered, his face grim.
My lady. We have a problem.
What kind of problem?
The Empress Dowager requested a private meeting with you. Tomorrow morning. Her chambers. He paused. She was very insistent.
My blood went cold. Did she say why?
No, my lady. But her messenger said she has questions about your... background.
Zara and I exchanged glances.
She suspects, I said quietly.
Of course she suspects. You walk exactly like Elara. You have the same mannerisms. And Cassian's reaction in the throne room wasn't exactly subtle. Zara stood, pacing. This is bad. If she confirms you're Elara, she'll try to finish what she started three years ago.
Let her try. I set down my teacup with deliberate calm. I'm not the helpless girl she destroyed. I have guards, money, and allies. She can't touch me.
She's the Empress Dowager. She can do whatever she wants.
Not anymore. I stood, walking to the documents about the Grand Chancellor. We move faster. We don't wait for the perfect moment. Tomorrow, before my meeting with her, we expose the Grand Chancellor's crimes to the Summit delegates.
That's too rushed
It's perfect. My mind was already racing, planning. We destroy the Grand Chancellor first. Prove that Lady Seraphine is powerful enough to topple imperial officials. Then when I meet with the Empress Dowager, she'll know that threatening me means war with the Shadow Kingdom.
Zara looked at me like I'd lost my mind. This is incredibly risky.
Everything about this is risky. I met her eyes. But I'm not running anymore. I'm not hiding. I came here to destroy them, so let's destroy them.
She studied me for a long moment, then nodded slowly. Alright. I'll get the documents ready for tomorrow. But Elara— She grabbed my arm. If this goes wrong, if the Empress Dowager moves against you—
She won't. I pulled my arm free gently. Because I'm going to make myself too valuable, too powerful to touch. By tomorrow afternoon, every merchant in that Summit will be on my side. The Grand Chancellor will be ruined. And the Empress Dowager will realize that I'm not her victim anymore.
And Cassian? Zara asked quietly. What about him?
I thought about his broken expression in the garden. The wedding ring around his neck. The way my heart had stuttered when he touched my hand.
Cassian made his choice three years ago, I said firmly. Now he gets to watch me make mine.
Later, alone in my bedroom, I stood at the window looking out over the palace grounds. Somewhere in this massive building, Cassian was probably awake too. Probably thinking about our confrontation. Probably planning how to win me back.
He didn't understand yet. There was no winning me back. The girl he'd loved was gone.
But as I touched my own lips—the lips he used to kiss with such tenderness—I wondered if that was really true.
A piece of paper slid under my door.
I froze. My guards should have stopped anyone from approaching my chambers.
Slowly, I picked it up. Cassian's handwriting again, rushed and desperate:
The Grand Chancellor fabricated everything. I have proof. My mother hired assassins to kill you. I have proof of that too. I'm going to destroy them both at the Summit. I'm going to make them pay for what they did to you. Even if you never forgive me, at least you'll have justice. —C
P.S. I know you're planning something. Whatever it is, let me help. We were always better together.
I stared at the note, my carefully constructed plans suddenly complicated.
Because if Cassian was planning to expose the conspiracy too, if he was going to move against his own mother
Then we were on the same side.
And I didn't know if that made everything better or infinitely worse.
A second piece of paper slid under the door.
I grabbed it quickly. Different handwriting. Zara's.
Don't trust him. This could be a trap. —Z
Two notes. Two completely opposite messages.
Trust Cassian and work together to destroy our enemies.
Or trust no one and fight this battle alone.
I looked at both pieces of paper, then at my reflection in the dark window.
The smart choice was obvious. Trust no one. Stay sharp. Fight alone.
But as I folded Cassian's note and tucked it against my heart, I realized the smart choice and the choice my heart wanted weren't the same thing.
And that was the most dangerous thing of all.