Derek did not look away. He did not call her crazy. He just listened.
"In my first life," Marissa explained, looking down at their hands. "I made a terrible choice. I married Carlos. And you married Ashlyn. I thought Carlos was a good man, but he was useless and lazy. I worked myself to the bone. I covered up his scandals, I built his wealth, and I forced him to the top. I made him the Grand Duke through my own blood and sweat."
She looked back up at Derek. "And you... you were married to my sister. Ashlyn was terrible to you. She was selfish and cruel."
Derek frowned slightly, trying to imagine a life tied to a woman like Ashlyn. It sounded like a miserable existence.
"Ashlyn saw my success," Marissa continued, her voice trembling slightly at the memory. "She was consumed by pure, toxic jealousy. She hated that I had built a powerful life while she was unhappy. Her jealousy drove her completely mad. She set fire to the bedchamber. She burned us both alive."
