Page 30 of The Duke’s Cursed Virgin (Cursed Brides #3)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“ T heo!”

The exhaustion of the day and the constant fear that seemed to wrap around Theo’s heart like a vise slowed his reaction time.

He froze.

His eyes followed the pistol helplessly, saw how Anthony gripped it and aimed it at him.

Sophia had not called him by name in a long time, not like this. Not with this desperation. She’d gladly throw Your Grace at his face anytime he angered her.

His muscles coiled, tension shooting through his body like an electric current. His eyes were fixed on Anthony’s trembling hand, and he knew that it was even more dangerous than a steady, cold-blooded hand.

The room seemed to have lost all sound and echo. All he could hear was the Marquess’s labored breathing.

“You should have let it go,” Anthony said bitterly. “Justice had been served when I finally received my inheritance! You can ask Barlow! I was better at handling the estate’s affairs. I was better than Jacob!”

“J-Justice?” Sophia echoed.

The carriage accident had resulted in her father’s death and her banishment from polite society. For years she had wondered why it happened at all and if she deserved it. Theo knew that his wife did not deserve her cruel fate.

“Put the pistol down, Balfour,” Theo commanded coldly, inching forward every chance he had. “You murdered your brother. Let that be the last stain. Should you repeat such an act, there will be no coming back from the depths of guilt you’ll find yourself in.”

“You are wrong, Wolvesley,” Anthony corrected, tightening his grip on the pistol. “There was no coming back.”

Theo knew that he had to make a move. He used his body to push the Marquess backward, overpowering the older man easily.

The pistol fell on the ground with a loud thud.

Sophia snatched it up from the floor. But Anthony would not give up without a fight.

“You little bitch! This is all your fault!” her uncle shrieked.

With a snarl, he lunged for his niece. But Theo was there, waiting. He tackled the Marquess to the floor, pinning him down even as the other man continued to thrash.

He heard a sob escape Sophia’s lips.

Sophia stepped forward, the pistol clutched tightly in her hands, though it trembled slightly. Her breath came in short gasps, but her voice—when it came—was clear and steady.

“Don’t you dare speak to me like that,” she said coldly. “You call me cursed, call me a disgrace, a stain on your precious name. But it was you who caused the accident. You killed your own brother. You destroyed your own family!”

Anthony let out a low, bitter laugh beneath Theo’s weight. “And yet here you are, still alive.”

“Yes,” she snapped. “I am alive. And no thanks to you. I survived the wreck you planned. I survived the whispers, the exile, the shame you made sure followed me. You wanted me forgotten. But I will not be quiet anymore.”

Her eyes shimmered, but she held her head high, “You tried to bury me with my father. But I crawled out of that wreckage and lived. And now everyone will know what you did.”

Theo looked up at her from where he held the Marquess pinned, awe and fury mingling in his gaze.

Sophia took a breath and stepped back, finally lowering the pistol. “You’ll never hurt me again.”

Soon enough, the constables arrived, ready to make the arrest.

Fraud. Conspiracy. Attempted Murder. Murder.

As expected, Anthony still struggled, fighting against his new reality. He was hauled up to his feet and away. The constables forced his hands behind his back.

“You all know it was mine!” he bellowed. “I deserved the title! Jacob didn’t even want it! I deserved it, not him!”

Daphne sank onto a chair, shedding silent tears. Her hands were folded in her lap.

Sophia’s heart went out to her, the pounding easing into something more forceful—painful.

She sat beside her and took her hands. She knew it was a risk because Daphne could well push her away for having her husband arrested.

Instead, Daphne clung to her. Her body was shaking terribly.

“What will happen to my children?” she asked, her voice breaking.

“We will find a way to secure their future,” Sophia reassured.

The boys were completely innocent. No matter how heinous their father’s crimes were, they should not suffer for it. They ought to be shielded from them.

“We will protect them.”

Anthony continued to shout while he was dragged away.

Silence fell when he was finally gone.

Theo stood by the desk, his chest rising and falling slowly now, his breath steady again. His eyes met Sophia’s. There was something terrifying there—terrifying because she could not decipher it.

It was over.

Somehow, though, Sophia knew that it was the beginning of something more complicated.

She just hoped that it was a good kind of complicated.