Page 121 of Vows of Silence

Every stone seemed to glow beneath the carefully positioned lights, every path lined with white flowers and flickering candles, transforming the entire place into something beautiful enough to belong in a bridal magazine.

It looked like a wedding. A real wedding. The kind little girls dreamed about when they were young. The kind my mother used to point out in magazines and tell me would one day be mine. Except none of this belonged to me. Not the flowers. Not the dress. Not the venue.

Not thechoice.

And all of it was pointless. There were no guests, no one to celebrate with.

So what was I supposed to think? That Silas had done this all for me? That was laughable.

The driver opened my door and waited. I didn’t move. I couldn’t. A moment later, one of the guards appeared beside the vehicle.

“Miss Carbone.”

I folded my arms tighter across my chest and kept my eyes fixed on the window. “I’m not getting out.”

The silence that followed told me he had absolutely no intention of entertaining the discussion.

“Miss Carbone.”

“No,” I breathed, feeling a wave of heat rush over me as panic clawed at my throat.

“No!” The word came out sharper this time, fuelled by equal parts anger and desperation. “I’m not getting out of this car. You can tell Silas whatever you want, but I’m not doing this.”

The guard released a slow breath through his nose before reaching into the vehicle. Panic immediately surged through my body. I scrambled backwards across the seat, grabbing hold of anything I could reach, but it was a pathetic attempt from the beginning. He caught my arm easily and began dragging me towards the open door.

“No!” I shouted, twisting violently in his grip. “Let go of me!”

My shoes scraped across the ground as he hauled me from the vehicle. I stumbled as soon as my feet touched the pavement, almost losing my balance entirely, and for one humiliating moment I felt like a child throwing a tantrum rather than a grown woman fighting for her future.

But I didn’t care.

Pride seemed insignificant compared to what waited for me inside.

“Please! Please don’t do this. My father has money. I promise you, he will make sure you’re—”

“Your father knows what’s happening.”

That knocked the wind straight out of me, and I immediately stopped fighting.

“What?” I whispered.

“Your father knows. Seems your little stunt last night didn’t work. Adrien isn’t coming, and neither is your father. Turns out the boss had an ace up his sleeve.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nobody is coming, Isabelle. Nobody. You’re all alone. The sooner you start accepting that, the better.”

They weren’t coming.

They weren’t fucking coming!

My father had abandoned me for the second time.

But why? A memory flashed behind my eyelids—Silas stood by the side of my bed, furiously typing away on my phone. What had he said to make Adrien and my father throw me to the wolves like this?

What the fuck had I missed?

And then I saw him.