303.
I AM ROSSELLA EVERHART ROSSELLA I watched through the window on the second floor of the family vi, observing how my twin sister practiced over and over to take my ce.
Abitterugh curled on my lips, followed by the sharp taste of iron rising up my throat, tearing through me.
Ipressed the handkerchief to my mouth as a violent cough wracked my body.
It felt like all my organs were turning to mush, dying slowly and agonizingly.
It was my punishment.
I knew it.
I was the one who stole her life in the first ce.
Ilooked at the delicate handkerchief, now stained with a grotesque ssh of blood, my lifeless eyes darkened by the shadow of death.
I remembered those days.
Now more than ever.
And the weight of remorse crushed my soul.
?I had arrived for a visit to thends of the Everhart Duchy.
We were country folknot poor, not rich, just part of a decaying middle ss.
My father had spent almost all his savings, obsessed with purchasingnd for sale in that faraway duchy, iming it was time to move up in the world.
When [arrived and saw his investment a swamp and an old forestI felt nothing but disappointment.
"Fool! The best decision I ever made was buying thisnd next to the Dukes territory! Rosse, you cant imagine, daughter, you cant imagine what I discovered! We will be rich, we will be nobles!" he shouted euphorically,ughing like amadman.
---- there was no stopping it.
She had fought like a wild animal to protect her pregnancy.
Father was insane.
He said it didnt matterthat the Duke would ept the bastard child as his own.
I didnt understand what dark secret my father held over the Duke.
"Pm your daughter too! I have no partner, no childrenI am the ideal choice!" I protested, furious and heartbroken.
Thad always known it.
She was the favorite.
Katherine.
The perfect one.
"Your sister is the better choice.
This was just a mistake.
But Katherine is smarter and more seductive.
Youre too cold, Rosse!" he shouted mercilessly.
"Tll open the doors, but someone has to win over the Dukes heart, and youre too stiff!" Icouldnt believe it.
I cried for hours, my mind drowning in hatred and resentment.
But there was another secret about Katherine.
The worst one of all.
I would prove to my father who his beloved daughter really was.
Katherine went intobor during an argument with him, demanding to know what had happened to Brendan.
Maybe by then, Father had already buried him in silence.
Inside the birthing chamber, I saw my opportunity.
Our old nursethe woman who had raised uswas assisting her.
The baby wasnting.
She was in a bad position, time was running out, and it looked like ---- I didnt understand a thing.
Father didnt give me any details.
But his next words marked the beginning of every wrong choice I ever made.
"Tm returning with you to the countryside.
I have to set things in order Ineed to prepare your sister.
Daughter..." he said more seriously, cing his hands on my shoulders.
"lm going to marry Katherine to the Duke of Everhart.
Im sorry, but shes the eldest and the more level-headed one.
You still live well as her twin sister." "The...
Duke of Everhart?" I repeated like an idiot, thinking I was imagining things.
But my father confirmed itthe Duke would marry my sister.
No.
No, I couldnt ept that.
She wasnt the right one.
Besides, Father didnt know the scandalous secret Katherine was keeping from him.
He hadnt been home for months.
"Father, actually, Katherine has a little surprise waiting for you when you return.
She..." I clenched my fists under his sharp gaze.
"Shes having an affair with Brendan.
And she let herself get pregnant." "WHAT?!" Father exploded with rage.
I had just arrived, and already, I had to go back home with him.
I thought he would abandon the idea of marrying off Katherine, but he didnt.
Somehow, he got rid of Brendanthe gardener on our estate.
Katherine was going to give birth to a baby.
She was already at full term ----