Valentine Manor
The hallway outside the study was brightly lit. Annelise Valentine knelt ramrod straight on the marble floor.
The door to the room was shut tight, and a long silence emanated from within.
Finally, the study door was thrown open.
Seth Valentine stood in the doorway, still in his bathrobe. He was a picture of both anger and distress, and as he pointed at her, his finger trembled.
"Annelise Valentine! Do you have any idea what time it is?! Kneeling here in the middle of the night—are you trying to worry me to death?!"
Annelise Valentine looked up. "Dad, I'm begging you. Help Chloe Fairchild."
"Help? You tell me how! That's Seolhwa, not Veridia! Even if the Valentine Family had mountains of gold, our reach doesn't extend that far! We can't meddle in someone else's territory! Don't you understand?!"
"I understand..." Annelise Valentine's voice caught.
