All the while, the exhaustion grew more and more intense by the minute.


    I didn’t copse again, but I certainly felt like I might. My knees were weak, my back sore, my head always spinning slightly even when I avoided alcohol.


    Somehow, though, I managed to stay upright-it only to spite Gabriel.


    By the time we made it to the dessert course of the meal portion of the night, I was struggling to keep my eyes open. My fork felt impossibly heavy as I picked at the chocte mousse on my te.


    “You look like hell.”


    I nced up to find Sophia standing beside our table with a champagne flute in her hand and that familiar smirk on her face. Alexander was nowhere to be found-likely rubbing elbows


    with pack officials somewhere.


    “Excuse me?” I said.


    “You look sick,” Sophia said bluntly, taking a seat beside me. “Pale, tired, and honestly…” She leaned in, dropping her voice to a whisper. “…Bloated. Are you feeling alright? You’re not… expecting, are you?”


    My fingers tightened around my fork. Was she seriously asking if I was pregnant? As if she hadn’t stirred up enough trouble already tonight by destroying the one thing that meant the most to me?


    “I’m perfectly fine, thanks for asking,” I said, mming my fork down so hard it rattled the table and made nearby guests jump. “And maybe next time you insult another woman’s appearance, you should look in the mirror. That dress isn’t doing you any favors.”


    The table around me went silent. Sophia’s face went red, and for a moment I thought she might throw her champagne at me. But we were surrounded by too many important people for her to cause a scene. Instead, she pushed her chair back with a loud scrape, stood, and stalked away without another word.


    Ignoring the stares, I grit my teeth and picked up my fork, shoveling a big bite of mousse into my mouth.


    The auction finally ended around eleven o’clock, and I’d never been so grateful to see an event conclude. My feet were screaming in these heels, my head was pounding, and all I wanted was to go home and copse into bed.


    When we finally pulled into our driveway, I was practically holding my eyes open with toothpicks. But as we made our way up the grand staircase, Liam stepped out from the parlor.


    “Alexander,” he called out. “Can I speak with you for a moment?”


    Alexander nced at me, then back at Liam. “Of course. E, you go ahead. I’ll be up shortly.”


    As if I was going to wait for him.


    With a nod, I trudged upstairs to our bedroom, my feet aching with every step. The first thing I did was kick off those torturous heels, then I scrubbed off the fake mark in the bathroom mirror until my skin was red and raw again.


    The face staring back at me indeed looked haggard. I hated to admit it, but Sophia hadn’t been wrong about the pale, sickly look. I looked like I was wasting away, which I supposed I was.


    I sighed, pushing a strand of hair out of my eyes. The cherry blossom bracelet glinted on my wrist as I moved, and I felt my stupid fucking heart do that thing again.


    For a moment, just a moment, I wanted to believe that Alexander had purchased the gift for me because he cared. Not because he had an outside agenda.


    But I quickly mmed that thought out of my mind, because it was bullshit. Alexander would never go that far. He didn’t truly care about anything except his image and his campaign.


    “No,” I hissed, almost scolding myself as I hastily reached for the sp. “He doesn’t care-”


    Before I could unsp the bracelet, it happened again.


    Only this time, there was no one to catch me.


    The room tilted sideways, then upside down, then rightside up again. Spinning, spinning, spinning. Nausea roiled through me like a riptide and before I even had a chance to gasp, I was crashing against the floor.


    The cold tiles mmed into my head, and in that moment of blinding white pain, the cherry blossom bracelet glinted past my vision.