Isabelle's POV
I stood in the middle of the wrecked foyer. I had come to say my final goodbye to the ghosts in the Valois ruin. I was here to visit a graveyard.
Everything about the last twenty-four hours felt like a heavy weight pressed against my neck. I'd pushed Dmitri away. I'd seen the mess of his life and decided to lie to him, thinking it would save his skin. My heart felt like a bruised muscle. What was the point of torching their world if mine was already a pile of charcoal?
I sat down on a charred beam and let the tears run down my face for my parents, for the guy I'd probably never see again and for the girl I used to be before I learned how much people suck. I cried until I couldn't feel my face.
"I'm sorry," I whispered to the empty air.
I didn't know if I was talking to the dead or to Dmitri. Probably both.
After a while, the crying stopped and the numbness moved in. I stood up and wiped the ashes off my skirt. If this was the end, I wanted one thing. Anything I can hold on to. A piece of the past that hadn't been turned into ash.
I trudged through the remnant of the house. The nursery was just a hole in the ground now. The master wing was still standing, mostly because the stones were thicker there. I pushed into what seemed to be my mom's old study. It smelled of rot and burnt paper.
Then I saw a flash of color. A painted flower pattern tucked into a crack behind a heavy cabinet. A metal tea tin.
My hands were shaking so hard I almost dropped it. The metal was cool. I sat on the filthy floor and fought with the lid until it popped off.
Letters. Tied with a piece of blue ribbon that had seen better days.
On top of the letters lay an old photograph. It showed my mother and a younger Seraphina dressed in riding uniforms, standing beside a pony. They were smiling. The kind of smile people only have when they trust each other completely.
The first envelope made my stomach drop. It was my mom's. But the name on the front was a slap in the face.
To my dearest Seraphina.
I opened it. The world started to tilt.
"Seraphina, I can't thank you enough for the advice on the trust. With the school expanding, it's a relief to know you're handling the legal stuff. I don't trust anyone more than my oldest friend."
I grabbed another one. Two years later.
"Dearest Seraphina, the girls are getting so big. Isabelle asks about Emmeline every day. It feels like we were just schoolgirls ourselves. I'm so glad our daughters will have what we have. Thanks for the gift. The silver lily pin is beautiful. I'll wear it forever."
There were dozens of them. A whole history of jokes, secrets and late-night talks. Seraphina Schuyler wasn't just some rich lady. She was my mom's best friend.
The last letter was different. The date was far apart from the rest. The writing was a mess, like her hand had been trembling while writing it.
"Seraphina, I don't get it. I saw the bank statements. The signatures on the maritime transfer look like mine, but I never signed anything. Tell me this is a mistake. Tell me you aren't doing this. I called, but your husband said you were away. We're family, Seraphina. Talk to me."
There was no reply. Just a tiny, burnt scrap of paper at the bottom. A different handwriting:
"Friendship is for losers who don't want to win. Goodbye, Elena."
The letters hit the floor.
I felt sick. A hot wave of nausea hit me so hard I had to lean my head against the wall. This wasn't just "business." This was a backstab that had been planned for years.
I could see it. My mom, wearing that stupid silver lily, writing these letters while Seraphina sat in some fancy room planning how to kill her. The hand that picked out my baby's clothes was the same one that forged the papers that ruined her.
The way the wind whistled through a broken window made the letters rustle, as if they were alive. The house groaned.
How could she do this to someone who had always had a pure heart toward her? Whatever the reason was… what was it? According to the contents of the letters, Seraphina had betrayed her. But how? Was Seraphina part of it? Part of the people who killed them? I thought Seraphina's attitude towards me was only about inheritance.
That was when it hit me. The inheritance. My father's ledger did mention the Schuylers' dirty business. I tried putting the piece together but I ended up coming back to the same conclusion. She could have known about their murder but chose not to say anything against it.
I needed answers. From Seraphina herself. But there's no way she's going to confess to her own crimes. I have to find a way.
I gathered my strength and got back on my feet, even though it felt as if I was carrying a burden on my shoulders. I packed the letters back into the tin. I could feel my blood rising. This wasn't about a stupid scholarship and definitely not about some inheritance. This was about a woman who was betrayed by her best friend.
Whoever said the only way to go is up after hitting rock bottom should think again. I'm going lower till there's nothing underneath.
I'd told Dmitri I was quitting to save him. I thought I was being the "bigger person." But not anymore. Seraphina will pay for this, if it's the last thing I do. Even if this fight claims my life, so be it.
I walked out of the ruins. I pulled out my phone. Dmitri had called me fifty times. I ignored every single one. I sent a message to Adrien instead.
Isabelle: Found new proof. It's personal. The story changed. Where does Seraphina keep her private files? Not the office stuff. The real secrets.
I waited. The phone buzzed a minute later.
Adrien: They are all kept in Lockwood Manor. They are probably hidden in the private library behind the main hall. Why are you asking though?
Isabelle: I'm going there tonight. There's something important I need to check for myself.
Adrien: It's guarded. That place is like a fortress. There are cameras everywhere. Um… is Dmitri aware of this? I don't think you should be doing this behind him.
Isabelle: I don't care. Can you stop the cameras for ten minutes?
A pause. I watched the little dots dance on the screen.
Adrien: It's too dangerous. If you get caught, Seraphina won't let you make it out of there in one piece, especially if you get your hands on the information you are looking for.
Isabelle: CAN. YOU. STOP. THE. CAMERAS. FOR. TEN. MINUTES? Yes or No.
Adrien: I'll give you twelve. Please be very careful and do not turn off your GPS. Dmitri is going to kill us if he finds out. Don't tell him I know about this.
I shoved my phone into my blazer's inner pocket. I was calm. Total, absolute calm. Adrien is right. The moment I walk into her premises and I get caught, Seraphina won't let me leave alive even if I reach the files or not. But I don't care, I have nothing to lose anyway.
Seraphina thought she'd broken me. She thought I'd crawled back to my hole to die. She won't see me coming.