Edward's Point Of View
The air in the room didn't just turn cold; it turned glacial. I felt the fine hairs on my arms stand up as my mother's words hung there, shimmering like a polished blade. The temperature seemed to drop ten degrees in an instant, and I found myself suppressing an involuntary shiver.
"A marriage alliance," she repeated, her voice savoring the words as if they were a vintage wine, rolling each syllable across her tongue with deliberate pleasure. There was a gleam in her eyes I recognized all too well… the look of a strategist who had just positioned her queen for checkmate.
I was mid-swallow when the realization hit my brain or rather, a version of it did, and I choked. I hacked violently, my lungs seizing as I nearly doubled over. Cynthia had to thump me on the back, but I barely registered her hand.
