Isabel needed air.
The kind that didn't taste like polished floors and secrets. She slipped out the side entrance of the mansion, into the massive gardens that stretched behind the Blackwood estate. It was early - dew still clung to the rose petals, the air sharp and silent.
She needed to think. Needed to breathe.
Was she really married to a man who kept her locked away with threats and breakfast trays? Was this her life now - surviving Damon's moods while her father rotted in debt and silence?
No. This wasn't the end.
This was the beginning.
"Isabel?"
She froze.
That voice. Too familiar. Too unwelcome.
She turned sharply and saw him.
Leo carter.
Her ex. The only man who had ever made her believe in love... and the first to betray it.
He looked different now - clean cut, wealthier, colder. He wore the same brand of expensive arrogance Damon did.
"What are you doing here?" She asked him, her voice guarded.
He stepped closer, looking around like he wasn't supposed to be there.
"I work for Damon now," he said. "Legal affairs. I didn't know you were... his wife."
She laughed, bitter. "No one ever knows the whole story, do they?"
"Isabel..." he took another step forward, lowering his voice. "You have no idea what you've walked into."
She narrowed her eyes. "No. But I'm learning fast. Damon isn't the villain everyone thinks he is."
Leo's jaw tightened.
"Be careful who you trust," he whispered. "Not everything is as it seems - especially with the Blackwoods".
Before she could respond, he was gone, vanishing between hedges like a shadow.
Back Inside...
Damon stood at the office window, watching.
Every move. Every word.
He'd seen Leo approach her.
He saw the hesitation on Isabel's eyes.
And it burned.
"I warned you," he said quietly to himself.
"Betrayal always finds it's way back."
He turned from the window and opened the locker drawer again.
This time, he took out not the letter - but the necklace.
Silver. Simple. Blood on the clasp.
And a name engraved on the back.
Evelyn.