Page 222 of The Obedient Lie
The air in the room dropped ten degrees.
“I talked to Alexander. We agreed it makes more sense for me to finish the last semester overseas. Focus on family obligations. Brush up on my French.”
Luca turned fully toward her. “You’re serious.”
She nodded once. “Yeah.”
I stared at her, trying to understand what I was hearing—what she was really saying.
“You’re just leaving?” I asked.
Her jaw ticked. “I won’t have you flying back and forth just to check on me. Splitting your attention, splitting your loyalty… that’s how men like you die.”
Luca’s hands were clenched into fists at his sides now.
I saw the way her hand moved—subtle, but deliberate—as she reached for something near her suitcase.
Then she turned, crossed the room, and dropped a thick envelope onto the bed with a dullthump.
The second it hit the mattress, I knew.
So did Luca.
Because stamped in red wax, still intact, was the Adams family seal.
My stomach dropped.
“What the fuck is that?” Luca asked, his voice quieter now. Dangerous.
Emilia’s tone matched it. “A contract.”
Neither of us moved.
She crossed her arms again and looked at me first, then Luca. “It came last week. Overseas estate. Summer gala circuit. Political networking. Some old dynasty arrangementAlexander pulled up from the vault and decided to make useful again.”
My chest turned to ice. “A betrothal?”
She didn’t answer.
But she didn’t have to.
Luca reached for the contract. His fingers hovered above the seal, trembling slightly before he snatched his hand back like it burned.
And then she droppedthree morecontracts onto the bed.
Each one just as thick. Each one stamped in gold and blood.
Luca’s head snapped down.
“What the fuck is this?” I asked.
She didn’t flinch. Didn’t look away.
“All of them,” she said calmly, almost too calmly. “Caplans. Rhone. Even the fucking Thatch heir. All promised meetings. Formal evaluations. Summer events lined up like cattle auctions.”
I couldn’t speak.
“I’m not the powerhead,” she said softly. “I’m the personmarriedto the powerhead. That’s what dynasty daughters are. We carry the bloodlines, link the names, bind the contracts. That’s the job.”
