Chapter 3

"Julian is just... sensitive," Seraphina said the next morning, her tone attempting to be reasonable. "He feels threatened easily."

Ethan stood at attention, his knees throbbing beneath his uniform.

He didn' t respond. Her rationalizations meant nothing.

"You will be his shadow, Ethan. Ensure his comfort. His safety."

She was sacrificing him to Julian' s whims, plain and simple.

To keep the peace for her precious wedding.

"Understood, Miss Vanderbilt."

His focus was on ten days. Nine now. The Gauntlet. Freedom.

The torment began immediately.

Julian' s regular valet was dismissed. Ethan was now to perform those duties.

One of Julian' s security men, a hulking brute named Pike, seemed to take particular pleasure in relaying Julian' s orders.

"Mr. Astor requires his shoes polished. And you, Cole, will do it on your knees."

Ethan complied, the pressure on his burned skin agonizing.

Julian' s demands escalated in their pettiness.

He made Ethan stand guard outside his bedroom door in the freezing pre-dawn hours, wearing only a thin shirt.

"Fresh air is good for you, bodyguard. Builds character."

Then, Julian emerged, shivering theatrically.

"I' ve caught a chill! Because of your negligence! You were supposed to ensure the corridor was warm!"

He coughed weakly, a performance for the approaching Seraphina.

She took one look at Julian, then at Ethan.

"You were careless, Ethan. Mr. Astor' s health is fragile."

Her voice was cold, accusatory.

Later that day, Ethan was summoned to the main courtyard.

The entire household staff was assembled.

Julian stood beside Seraphina, a smug look on his face.

Thorne, the head of security, read the charge: "Negligence endangering the health of Mr. Astor."

The punishment was immediate. Public flogging.

Two security guards held Ethan' s arms, forcing him against a stone pillar.

The lash cut into his back, again and again.

He gritted his teeth, refusing to make a sound.

Through a haze of pain, he saw Seraphina.

She was standing with Julian, her arm linked through his.

Julian whispered something in her ear, and she smiled, a small, intimate smile.

They turned and walked back into the mansion, leaving him to his punishment.

As the whip fell, Ethan felt something inside him finally break.

Not his body, but the last lingering thread of illusion about Seraphina.

The warmth he thought he' d seen in her as a child, the connection he' d imagined.

It was all a lie. He was a tool, nothing more.

The pain in his back was immense, but the pain in his heart, the one he' d carried for her for so long, was finally, blessedly numb.

He was free of her, even before The Gauntlet.