Chapter 15.

NORA CARUSO. I didn't scream or throw another vase. I had spent all my rage in the dark hours of the morning, and now, my chest felt hollowed out, scraped clean of everything. Hate keeps you warm. That's what Nikolai had said. He thought he was teaching me a lesson, but he had given me a weapon. Tears wouldn't open that door, begging wouldn't lower the gate. If I wanted to save whatever was left of my relationship with Renata, I would be the hysterical girl he saw. I paced my room, the windows were reinforced glass. The balcony drop was thirty feet to a stone patio, and I could see the patrol pattern of the guards below. I checked the clock on the bedside table. 9:15 AM. I texted my father and got no reply, they must still be angry at me and I don’t know what I can do to stop them from getting angrier. Guilt pressed down on my chest, I was the reason the wedding was canceled. I was the reason our family became a laughing stock and I was the hypocrite who had warned her about the monste