Chapter 9

Emily's POV

I kept my voice soft and gentle as I slid the tablet across the café table to Kate, watching her expression shift from rage to confusion. The security guards Stefan had assigned remained at a discreet distance, but close enough to intervene if needed.

"Look at these side-by-side comparisons," I said, my finger hovering over the screen. "Someone deliberately altered your original draft to include plagiarized content."

Kate's mascara had smudged beneath her eyes, making dark shadows that matched her mood. She stared at the evidence, breathing heavily.

Perfect. She's starting to doubt her initial assumption that I sabotaged her.

"This can't be right," she muttered, scrolling through the documents. "Who would do this to me?"

I let my shoulders relax slightly, tilting my head in a way that suggested vulnerability and concern. "I've been thinking about that. Maybe we could shift everyone's attention away from the scandal?"

Kate looked up sharply. "What do you mean?"

I took a careful sip of my coffee before answering. "The International Emerging Jewelry Designer competition starts next month. If you entered and did well, the media would focus on your achievement instead of the thesis controversy."

A flash of hope crossed Kate's face before her expression hardened into cynicism. "Right, because I'm just overflowing with design talent," she said with a cold laugh. "We both know I don't have that kind of skill."

I adjusted my position, leaning forward slightly. My heart raced with anticipation, but I kept my voice steady. "I could help you with the designs."

"You?" Her eyes narrowed. "And what would you want in return? Nothing comes free from you, does it?"

My fingers tensed around my cup. "I need you to support my move out of your parents' house."

Kate's lips curved into a knowing smirk. "So that's it. You're trying to escape the marriage to that creepy rich guy." She leaned back, studying me. "He looks dangerous, you know."

"No, it's not that," I quickly clarified, my pulse quickening at the mere mention of Stefan. "I'll stay in the city. I just... need independence."

The lie slipped easily from my lips. I was already living with Stefan at Oak Manor, but Kate didn't need to know that yet. Let her believe she had leverage over me.

Kate excused herself to use the restroom, and I turned toward the window. Heavy snowflakes had begun to fall outside, coating the sidewalk in a pristine white blanket. My mind drifted as I watched them swirl down from the gray sky.

Dad used to take me to Hyde Park when it snowed like this. We'd build snowmen while Mom prepared hot chocolate waiting for us at home.

I remembered the weight of his hands on my shoulders, his voice warm and encouraging. "My little designer," he'd call me when I insisted on finding the perfect stones for the snowman's eyes.

The memory shifted to that last snowy night—the night they sent me away. Mom's tear-stained face as she hugged me tightly. Dad's solemn promise: "We'll come back for you very soon, sweetheart."

But they never did.

My fingers tightened around my coffee cup. "That car accident changed everything," I whispered to myself. Then I corrected my thought: "No. Not an accident. Murder."

I blinked rapidly, clearing my expression as Kate returned to the table. The vulnerability in my eyes now wasn't entirely an act.

"Have you thought about my offer?" I asked softly.

Kate huffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Fine. But I want to see your design skills first."

I reached into my bag and pulled out a small sketchbook, carefully turning to specific pages that showed intricate jewelry designs—the ones I'd been working on privately, far from Kate's prying eyes.

Her expression changed as she flipped through the pages. I saw recognition, then jealousy, quickly masked by calculation.

"You did these?" she asked, her voice unnaturally high.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Those designs had been my secret refuge, my only creative outlet during the dark years in the Summers household.

"Alright," Kate said finally. "It's a deal. You help me win this competition, and I'll talk to my parents about your... independence."

I felt a small thrill of triumph but kept my expression humble and grateful. "Thank you, Kate."

---

Outside the café, the snowstorm had intensified. I hugged myself against the biting cold, scanning the street for a taxi.

"Mrs. Ashford," a deep voice called.

One of Stefan's security personnel approached, opening an umbrella over me while another waited by a black SUV. The man draped a thick coat around my shoulders.

"The weather has worsened considerably, ma'am. Mr. Ashford instructed us to escort you back to Oak Manor."

My stomach did an unexpected flip at the thought of Stefan arranging this protection without my asking. I nodded silently, following them to the car.

Once inside the warm vehicle, I pulled out my phone, typing and deleting several times before sending Stefan a simple message: "Thank you for arranging security. The weather turned bad. Please be careful."

I stared at the screen, analyzing every word. Polite but not too familiar. Concerned but not overly so. I couldn't appear too attached, yet needed to maintain the façade of a cordial marriage.

My phone buzzed with his reply: "Stay warm. Back tomorrow."

Just four words, yet I found myself studying them for hidden meanings. The directive to stay warm sounded like an order, yet he'd bothered to inform me of his return.

The car pulled through the gates of Oak Manor, and I thanked the driver before hurrying inside, snowflakes melting in my hair.

"Is Mr. Ashford home?" I asked Jonathan softly as I handed him my coat.

"Not yet, Mrs. Ashford. He'll return from New York tomorrow."

I nodded, feeling an inexplicable mix of relief and disappointment. Making my way to my room, I stood by the window, watching the snow fall heavier now, blanketing the estate in white silence.

"What a contradictory man," I whispered to my reflection in the darkened glass. "He could have simply told me he was coming back tomorrow, but instead, he has to command me to stay warm."

I turned away from the window, my mind already calculating the next moves in my plan. The agreement with Kate was in place. The pieces were beginning to fall into position, like the snow accumulating outside—seemingly random, yet each flake part of a larger pattern that would eventually bury everything beneath.