“I’m not staying.” My jaw tightened as I pulled free of his grip. “I’ll leave before the vows. Just… tell her I was here.”

Robert’s face went a sickening shade of gray. He stepped closer, his breath smelling of expensive scotch and desperation.

“I will tell her nothing,” he hissed, trembling with frantic energy. “And you will leave right now. Do you understand? You cannot be seen. By anyone.”

I frowned, reading the terror in his posture. This wasn’t his usual elitist embarrassment. This was survival panic.

“Why? What did you do?”

He swallowed hard. “The Sterlings… they value family, Elena. Perfect families. Unbroken lineages. When we merged our circles, they asked about my other daughter.