Morning light did not warm the castle.
It felt cold.
Hollow.
Like every wall had learned the truth last night and was silently judging her for it.
Rose sat alone in the throne room, still wearing the same gown from the night before.
Her hair was loose around her shoulders, her eyes swollen from crying.
In front of her, the ruby carpet blurred as she stared at it, unblinking.
Auburn.
An impostor.
Jasmine.
Her real granddaughter.
Cherry.
Her betrayer.
Her sister.
Coral
Her own daughter
The child she had birthed and raised… had pushed her own sister off the both with the intentions to have her killed.
And Roland.
Her very own Husband.
Rose closed her eyes, breath shaking.
Her husband had been sleeping with Cherry.
Her bitch of a sister.
The truth was muddy, poisoned, confusing but it didn't matter.
It hurt all the same.
She touched the crown on her head.
For the first time in her life, it felt like a burden.
A weight she didn't deserve.
