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I clench my teeth in frustration. “I paid for the company ofseveralmen, and the only reason they were tolerable is because they were being paid to be so!”

Eryx closes his eyes for a solid thirty seconds, as though he wishes to pretend I’m no longer here. When he opens them again, he appears calmer. He looks over my head as he says, “You will be happy again. This time will be different. You have full control over your courtship now. You can refuse anyone.”

“I thought I already did, for I’m refusing your offer. I don’t need your dowry. I don’t want it.”

His hands clench into fists as his eyes jump to mine.

I take a step back.

Because not only does he look ready to hit something, but also his eyes have changed color. They’re a bright amber instead of brown.

And they’re glowing.

“Fifteen thousand,” he says.

“What?”

“I’ll up it to fifteen thousand necos. Your dowry.”

I finally process the words, looking away from those eyes. “No!”

“Twenty. That’s my final offer.”

Twenty thous— That’s unheard of. It’s beyond exorbitant.

I’m insulted.

“Why do you hate me so much?” I demand.

“I do not hate you.”

“Lies! You barge into my home. Steal my room, despite not sleeping in it. Steal my money, despite not needing it. You’ve fired half myfriends, left the place in a complete state of disarray. Now you wish to pawn me off on someone else, just so you can have this enormous manor to yourself. Did I wrong you in some egregious manner that I’m unaware of?”

“It’s not you.”

“Is it because I suspect the truth? That you are not who you say you are. Is it because I can bring your dark secrets to light?”

Eryx looks away from me, his body tensing like a bowstring. I hold my breath for a few beats, waiting to see what he will do.

When he turns to face me, his eyes are back to normal.

“It is because I wish to be alone.”

CHAPTER 9

There is no denying it.

Before, I could excuse it as a trick of the light. But just now? From a foot away, I watched his eyes change from dark brown, to glowing amber, to brown again.

Eryx is hiding more than just his treachery in stealing this estate from me. I can’t even begin to put into words what it might be. Perhaps I should be frightened, but the mystery pulls me in like a wave being pulled by the moon. Iwillget to the bottom of this, no matter what the truth reveals.

It occurs to me that my initial assumptions were all wrong. The firing of the servants, sending away the men refurbishing the house, trying to be rid of me—it’s not all solely to enrage me.

It’s to get as many people away from him as possible. He was telling the truth just now when he said it wasn’t me. It’s him. There’s something about him he doesn’t want people finding out. He needs as few people on the estate as possible to keep his secret. Somehow, his “valets” are involved. They know and are helping him hide it. Of that, I’m certain.

Before I can decide what to do with this new information, a letter arrives from Father:

My dearest daughter,