She thought back to fragments of memory, her mother's hushed conversations, sudden financial troubles, and the abrupt closing of her dress shop years ago without explanation.
Could the Duke's family be connected to that unexplained collapse?
The thought unsettled her, stirring both anger and desperate curiosity.
Later, as carriages began lining up outside the estate, Alina spotted Alaric near the entrance, clearly waiting despite the guests filing past him.
When their eyes met, he offered a small nod, silent but meaningful, promising a future conversation neither of them could avoid.
Alina climbed into her carriage, her mind racing through possibilities, unable to shake the feeling that her mother's forgotten story was about to resurface in ways she never expected.
The night air felt colder than before, carrying with it questions she could no longer ignore, and a growing certainty that answers waited just beyond her reach.
Three days later, a letter arrived at Margaret's modest townhouse, sealed with the unmistakable crest of the Thorne family. Alina's hands trembled slightly as she opened it, finding a simple request for a private meeting at a public tea house, chosen carefully to avoid scandal.
Despite her aunt's objections, Alina agreed, driven by an urgent need to understand what connected her mother to a family she had never met.
When she arrived, Alaric was already seated, his posture tense despite his attempt at composure. "Thank you for coming," he said, gesturing for her to sit.
He wasted no time with pleasantries, instead sliding an old photograph across the table. Alina's breath caught when she recognized her mother, younger and smiling, standing beside a dress shop sign she remembered faintly from childhood.
"Where did you find this?" she asked, her voice barely steady.