[Lavinia's POV — Lily Boutique, continuation]
Ah… the taste of triumph. Sweet. Rich. Lingering on my tongue like the finest wine.
Eleania sat across from me, her noble mask freshly reapplied, yet I could still see the fissure beneath. Porcelain once cracked never regains its shine.
I leaned back, fingers drumming lazily on the armrest, letting my smile gleam like sunlight on sharpened steel.
"Mmm… what a blessing it must be, Lady Eleania, to witness such devotion firsthand. I can only hope," my gaze slid to her, lazy, deliberate, "that one day, you too will find a man willing to… overlook the world, simply for you."
Her knuckles twitched, whitening against her lap. Delicious.
"And…" my smile stretched wider, sharper, "I hope that man is someone who does not already belong to someone else."
She flinched. Oh, how she flinched.
