"Hah! Look at this, Susan," Wilfred said with triumph as he displayed the heavy parchment of the formal invitation. "Now, he will see what happens when someone humiliates me," he muttered, the bitterness of past rejections fueling his voice.
Susan looked at him, her brow furrowing in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I won't go to this wedding. Let the people of Varos see the empty seats. Let them whisper that the Duke's new bride has a strained relationship with her own blood," Wilfred stated, a cold smirk playing on his lips. "His prestige depends on a perfect union; I will give him a broken one."
"Father, don't be foolish," Rosaline interrupted in a sharp voice as she descended the stairs. She stopped directly in front of them with an expression of cold rather than concern. "If you do this, it will only backfire on us. Don't take the Duke's mercy lightly. If he desires, he has the power to destroy our standing entirely."
