| CHRISTIE STRATOS | Deciding which drawer to search for the third time, she’d paused and in those few seconds of silence, in those surprisingly long seconds of sweaty exasperation, she recognized the sound of footsteps walking away from the door. He had been listening. Listening to her tear the room apart inch by inch. He had not knocked nor had he said anything to her. He had just listened. That was the moment she’d realized she had married something wicked. Everything had changed after that. It had been far from perfect before, but that moment was the end of any trust between them. Thinking back on all that now, two years later, and remembering it with such vividness, Elizabeth supposed she should not be surprised that their first child was so odd. It was, after all, half his. And now it was starting its life with a brand on it. A pin of betrayal. No one ever would have known about it if this “gift” hadn’t been given, because Mrs. Hinsely was barren and everyone knew it. So there could never be an accident, a questionable child, to prove the horrid sin. And yet Mrs. Hinsley had done this. And Richard had stood stolid as ever as Elizabeth had received it, showing no emotion, no fear, no regret. Nothing. If he thought he would have a son after this, he was badly mistaken. He would have to force her. And that would be a sin. But then again, so was this.
Book 2, Brotherhood of Secrets available now
Issue 40 | November 2019 |
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