The pain hit Tessa so sharp and sudden she gasped. She realized her instincts about Nathan had been right all along. He had never really loved her. He only wanted to use her to satisfy his obsession, to hurt her again. A justification for a truth that now felt bitter.

The room seemed to shrink around Tessa. Tyler’s face, Jack’s, even the servants standing stiffly in the corners, all faded. All that was left was Nathan with his cold betrayal and Caroline with that disgusting triumphant ...