Chapter 10
I motioned for my servant to turn away, my silver shoes clicking softly as I approached her. Bending down, I offered her a kind smile.
“Without my intervention, you would have frozen to death outside your uncle’s door that winter night. Tell me why, Claire.”
She wiped her tears with a trembling hand, a bitter smile twisting her lips. “Because it wasn’t fair. Why were you born into luxury while I fought rats for scraps? Life isn’t fair.”
She paused, looking up at me with eyes suddenly devoid of malice, reminiscent of the innocent girl I’d met five years ago. Her voice softened, heavy with sorrow.
“Victoria, I concede defeat. But I never loved Eugene.” “He was just a walking wallet. My true love…” Her voice cracked. “He died under loan sharks’ knives when I was eighteen, when love still meant something pure.”
“Someone like you could never understand that kind of pain.”
I draped my coat over her shoulders, pausing at the doorway. “Claire, I never harmed you. Do you believe in karma?”
Dempsey waited outside with an umbrella, guilt shadowing his aristocratic features. “Vic, it’s my fault. I raised you to be kind and righteous, only to watch others take advantage of that goodness.”
I squeezed his cold hand. “This isn’t your fault, Dempsey. These were my choices.”
Words failed him as I hugged him tight, just as I had since childhood. “I’m blessed to be a Montgomery, to have such an extraordinary brother.”
“What about us?” Adrian and Brody approached, feigning wounded pride.
I grinned. “All my brothers are the best in the world.”
Back at the estate, my three brothers—men who could collapse markets with a phone call—fumbled adorably in the kitchen. The news droned in the background:
“Two bodies discovered by the river, identified as Eugene Thorne and Claire Bennett. Preliminary cause: drowning.”
I silenced the TV, slipping into the kitchen to tease Dempsey about his massacre of innocent potatoes. “At this rate, we’ll be dining on peels alone.”
He looked up with a sheepish smile.
Later, eight elaborate dishes crowded our table as we raised crystal glasses in perfect unison.
“To Victoria’s new beginning!”