The hospital waiting room felt like hell. The lights were too bright and it felt too damn loud with the buzzing of the lights overhead. My chest was tight, like the walls were closing in on me.
Jeslyn was alive. Stable. That should have calmed me. But all I could hear was that word the doctor had used poison.
The drink. The one I'd been meaning to drink if not for Jeslyn's interruption.
It wasn't meant for her.
My stomach flipped. It had been meant for me.
"You've finally gone too far," my mother's voice snapped, sharp enough to slice me open. Her eyes were wet, but her expression was stone. "You couldn't stand your sister getting ahead of you, could you?"
I blinked, stunned. "You think I would poison my sister?."
"You wanted her out of the way!" my father barked, standing, his hand clenching at his side. "God help me, Raine, but I should've known you'd stoop this low!"
The words hit like a slap and my eyes burned with unshed tears. Tears
"I didn't do anything, I would I never...."
"Jeslyn took the drink from you." My mother's voice shook, but the venom didn't. "She took it from you, and this is how you her?"
"Enough."
Adrian's voice cut clean through the chaos. It wasn't loud, but it was final. The kind of tone that silences everyone without effort.
He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, eyes dark and sharp. Calm, controlled. Dangerous.
"If Raine wanted Jeslyn dead, she would've let her finish the glass without stopping her," he said, low and steady. "Think for a damn second before you accuse your own daughter of attempted murder."
My mother whirled on him. "Don't you dare speak to me that way, Throne….."
"I dare," he said, stepping forward, his presence swallowing the room. "Because this isn't just about her anymore. Someone tried to kill my fiancée. And that makes it my problem."
The word fiancée made my insides twist. My parents froze, my father's mouth twitching in fury.
Adrian's hand slid into mine. Warm. Solid and Unshakable.
His eyes locked on me. "Do you remember what drink it was?"
My lips parted, but nothing came out. I thought back, to the moment the glass slid across the counter, Jeslyn's perfume filling my nose, her voice in my ear. I hadn't even looked.
"I didn't see," I whispered, shame cutting deep. "I wasn't paying attention."
Adrian's jaw flexed. For a second, I thought he'd snap. Instead, he bent closer, his voice meant only for me.
" "You're mine to protect, Raine. And I will do everything in my power to protect you."
My pulse jumped, heat crawling up my neck. God, I hated how he could shake me even in the middle of this nightmare.
"You see?" my father snarled, cutting back in. "This is the disgrace I warned about. You've dragged this family into ruin. Step down, Raine. Before you destroy what's left of us."
"Step down?" My laugh came out broken, bitter. "Because someone tried to kill me? You want me punished for surviving?"
"You've embarrassed us long enough," my mother hissed.
I lifted my chin, forcing the wobble out of my voice. "Call me selfish, call me ruthless I don't care. But I'm not handing Jeslyn the empire just because she nearly died drinking something meant for me."
Her face twisted, ready to spit fire, but Adrian cut in again.
"No. She won't step down." His voice carried, firm and absolute. "Matter of fact? She will be stepping up."
Every head snapped toward him.
Adrian looked at my parents like they were beneath him. Then he turned back to me, his eyes sharp with something that made my stomach twist.
"What do you mean?" my father barked.
Adrian's lips curved into a cold smile. "We move the wedding up. One week from today."
The room detonated.
"A week?" my mother's voice cracked. "You're insane!"
"You don't get to decide this!" my father shouted.
"Yes, I do," Adrian said smoothly, cutting them both down with his tone. "Because this farce of a power struggle ends now. The world will see Raine as mine. Officially. Permanently. And anyone who wants to hurt her will have to go through me first."
The words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating.
My heart thudded hard enough to hurt. One week.
My parents were raging, my mother crying, my father threatening board votes and disownment.
But Adrian didn't move. His grip on my hand tightened. His gaze never left mine.
His message was clear.
He wasn't asking.
And in seven days, he'd make the whole world know it.