The folded letter trembled in her hands, but not from fear. Samantha’s lips curled as her eyes darted across her mother’s desperate words. Her father’s threats, his so-called demands for her return, were nothing more than shackles waiting to bind her again. Return home? To kneel under Cedric’s iron hand and endure his punishment without even tasting the life she longed for? Never.
Her mother’s pleas might have been soaked with tears, but Samantha sneered in her heart. Father thinks he can summon me back like a stray dog? He underestimates me. He always has. I will not return empty-handed. I will not bow before him again. No… I will win here. I will take what I deserve.
Crushing the parchment in her fist until it crinkled, Samantha flung it into the corner of her room. She sat on the edge
