The silence in Michael Helwart’s private suite was a heavy, suffocating blanket. The confrontation had passed, but the poison it released still hung in the air. Nancy had departed, a triumphant queen leading her new pawn, Ceci, back to the gilded cage of the Helwart manor. But Michael, left alone with Simon, was a king besieged in his own castle, his throne a sterile hospital bed.

His mind was a fractured screen, replaying the same devastating image: Linsy’s back as she walked away. Not a ...