Serena’s POV

Lila’s words hung in the air like thick smoke and it was suffocating me.

“Then you better be ready to bleed,” she said, her smirk sharp as she raised her whiskey glass.

My hands trembled, as rage and fear twisted in my gut.

The idea of surrendering to Daniel Hawthorne’s disgusting proposal to become his mistress made my skin crawl.

But Lila’s insistence that I had no other way out slapped me even though it was the truth.

Victor’s threats loomed ...