[Evelina's POV—Vinter Mansion—The Next Morning]
Sleep didn't come.
Not even close.
The mansion remained silent in the way only powerful places ever were—not peaceful, not calm, but alert. Like a predator pretending to rest with one eye open, daring the world to try something stupid.
Morning light crept through the tall windows anyway, thin and pale, slicing across the black velvet curtains.
I stretched my arms slowly, joints cracking faintly.
"…Now," I muttered, rubbing my eyes, "let's begin the next thing I desperately wanted to do."
I sat up.
Cut off all ties with the Hartgraves. Completely. Cleanly. Irreversibly.
No more pretending. No more obligations to people who only remembered I existed when it was convenient—or scandalous. With the Cursed Bond Route activated, there were no death flags tied to characters anymore.
Which meant one thing.
I was finally free to walk away. And to do that properly, I needed a weapon stronger than knives or poison.
A lawyer.
