LOVE, LIES & LEGACY

The Betrothal

There were three things I had learned about the Vale family before I was old enough to understand what any of them meant.

Never embarrass the family.

Never question Lord Alaric Vale.

And above all—

Never break tradition.

Unfortunately for my grandfather, I had never been particularly good at following rules.

Especially when those rules involved Lily.

I glanced across the dining room.

She sat beside me, perfectly still, her hands folded tightly in her lap.

Fourteen years old.

Fourteen.

She was wearing a pale blue dress that made her look even younger, her dark hair pulled neatly away from her face. Anyone who didn't know her would probably have mistaken her nervous expression for shyness.

I knew better.

Lily was terrified.

I reached beneath the table and squeezed her hand.

She looked at me.

I gave her a small smile.

I'm here.

Her fingers tightened around mine.

At the head of the table, Lord Alaric Vale cleared his throat.

Every conversation immediately died.

That was the thing about my grandfather.

He never needed to demand silence.

His presence did it for him.

He sat straight-backed in his chair, silver hair neatly combed, one hand resting beside his untouched wineglass.

Beside him sat my grandmother, Lady Beatrice.

Across from them were my parents.

And further down the enormous table sat our guests.

The Devereux family.

I already knew where this was going.

I just didn't know how bad it would be.

"My family," Grandfather began, "has maintained its relationship with House Devereux for generations."

I stared at him.

Nobody touched their food.

"Certain promises," he continued, "are older than any one person sitting at this table."

My stomach tightened.

Beside me, Lily went rigid.

Grandfather's gaze moved toward her.

"And tonight, one of those promises will finally be honored."

No.

My mother's eyes immediately dropped to her plate.

My father shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

And Lily stopped breathing.

Grandfather smiled.

"Lily Vale will fulfill the betrothal originally arranged between House Vale and House Devereux."

Silence.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Then I heard Lily whisper my name.

"Sera..."

I pushed my chair back.

The scrape of wood against the marble floor sounded deafening.

"No."

Every head turned toward me.

Grandfather's expression hardened.

"What did you say?"

I stood.

"I said no."

Across the table, someone coughed.

I didn't look at them.

My eyes remained fixed on my grandfather.

"Lily is fourteen."

"The agreement is a family matter."

"She's fourteen."

"I heard you the first time."

"Then perhaps you didn't understand me."

My mother's eyes widened.

"Sera," she whispered.

I ignored her.

Grandfather's jaw tightened.

"The arrangement was made long before you were born."

"And that makes it acceptable?"

"It makes it tradition."

"Tradition isn't an excuse for everything."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop.

I knew I had crossed the line.

I simply didn't care.

Grandfather leaned back.

"You are forgetting your place."

"No," I said quietly. "I'm remembering hers."

Lily looked down.

I could feel her trying not to cry.

That was enough.

I would have challenged every noble family in Valedria if necessary.

My grandfather's gaze shifted toward the Devereux side of the table.

Then I noticed him.

Lord Lucien Devereux.

I had seen him before, of course.

Everyone in Valedria knew who Lucien Devereux was.

Twenty-six.

Heir to one of the oldest noble houses in the kingdom.

Tall, dark-haired, impeccably dressed.

And irritatingly calm.

While everyone else at the table looked uncomfortable, Lucien looked almost amused.

His eyes met mine.

There was the faintest hint of a smile.

I narrowed my eyes.

"Something funny, Lord Devereux?"

His eyebrow lifted.

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to."

That almost-smile returned.

"I see."

"You see what?"

"Why your family warned me about you."

I stared at him.

"My family talks about me?"

"Occasionally."

"How unfortunate for them."

A quiet laugh escaped him.

I hated that.

I hated that I noticed.

More importantly, I hated that he seemed completely unaffected by the argument happening around us.

I folded my arms.

"If you find this amusing, perhaps you'd like to explain why."

Lucien's expression changed.

For the first time, the amusement disappeared.

He glanced briefly toward Lily.

Then back at me.

"I don't think this is amusing."

That answer surprised me.

Before I could respond, Grandfather spoke.

"Enough."

Everyone went silent.

His eyes settled on me.

"You have no idea what you are interfering with."

Something about the way he said it made me pause.

Not anger.

Fear.

It was there for barely a second.

But I saw it.

Then his face became unreadable again.

"Sit down, Seraphina."

I didn't.

"What happens if I refuse?"

His eyes hardened.

"Then you will learn exactly how little power you actually possess."

My heart pounded.

But before I could answer, an unfamiliar voice came from the other side of the table.

"Alaric."

Lady Evangeline Devereux.

She hadn't spoken once during the entire argument.

Now she was staring at my grandfather.

There was something strange in her expression.

Not anger.

Not annoyance.

Fear.

Grandfather looked at her.

For one brief moment, something passed between them.

A silent conversation.

Then Evangeline looked toward Lily.

And whispered something.

I couldn't hear it.

But Grandfather could.

His face changed.

Only slightly.

Yet I saw it.

He looked at Lily.

Then at Evangeline.

And finally at me.

I sat down.

Not because he'd ordered me to.

Because suddenly, I wanted to know what they were hiding.

---

That night, I couldn't sleep.

The house was silent.

Everyone had gone to bed hours ago, but my mind refused to quiet down.

You have no idea what you are interfering with.

I replayed my grandfather's words again and again.

There had been something behind them.

Something more than tradition.

I slipped out of my room.

Vale Manor had always felt different at night.

During the day, it was beautiful.

At night, it felt like it was watching you.

I walked toward the old library.

My grandfather kept most of the family's historical records there.

Birth records.

Marriage records.

Old letters.

Photographs.

Family trees.

Everything a person would need to prove they belonged to House Vale.

I lit the small desk lamp.

Then began searching.

I started with the family registers.

Vale.

Vale.

Vale.

Nothing.

I pulled another book from the shelf.

Nothing.

Another.

Still nothing.

I frowned.

If the betrothal was connected to generations of family history, there had to be records somewhere.

I opened an old leather-bound register.

Pages crackled beneath my fingers.

Then I stopped.

A name caught my eye.

Gina.

I stared at it.

There was no surname.

Just Gina.

And beneath it, someone had violently scratched out several lines of writing.

My pulse quickened.

I turned the page.

Nothing.

I flipped backward.

Nothing.

Forward.

Nothing.

It was as though the name had been accidentally left behind after someone erased an entire person.

I searched the family tree.

There was no Gina.

I searched the birth records.

Nothing.

Marriage records.

Nothing.

Death records.

Nothing.

It was impossible.

Someone had deliberately removed her.

I reached for another book.

It slipped from my fingers.

Something fell from inside it.

A photograph.

It landed face-up on the floor.

I crouched down.

My breath caught.

The photograph was old.

Very old.

In it stood a much younger version of my grandfather.

Beside him was Lady Evangeline Devereux.

They weren't standing apart like two noble families meeting for a formal portrait.

They were standing close.

Too close.

And between them—

was a little girl.

A little girl with dark hair.

On the back of the photograph, written in faded ink, were three words.

Gina. Our daughter.

I stopped breathing.

The library suddenly felt freezing.

My eyes moved between the photograph and the family register.

Gina.

Our daughter.

Alaric Vale.

Evangeline Devereux.

I looked toward the locked library door.

Then back at the photograph.

The betrothal.

Lily.

The strange looks.

My grandfather's warning.

Evangeline's fear.

None of it was a coincidence.

Someone had erased Gina from our history.

And somehow—

Lily was at the center of it.

I closed my fingers around the photograph.

For the first time that night, I knew exactly what I was going to do.

I was going to find out who Gina was.

And if the Vale family wouldn't give me answers...

I'd get them from the Devereuxs.

Even if that meant dealing with the most infuriating man I'd ever met.

Lord Lucien Devereux.

I smiled bitterly.

This was going to be a disaster.