Alisha swallowed hard, the bitterness of the truth catching in her throat as she desperately tried to weave a path away from the precipice. "You did the right thing, Lucius," she murmured, her voice a fragile shield of lies. "Your sister was a woman in love; she took exactly what she desired. Do not forget the past. Please, let us never speak of this again."
"ALISHA!" he roared, the sound echoing like thunder against the gilded walls.
"What?" she snapped back, her eyes flashing with a calculated fire. "Am I the only one to be blamed here? She loved him. She married him. Have you so easily forgotten the agony I endured because of their wretched affair? Why do you cast the weight of this guilt upon me now?"
The fire in Lucius's eyes flickered and died, replaced by a hollow, haunted exhaustion. He collapsed into his chair, staring at her with a fractured gaze. "Yes... you are right. She chose him. She must bear the consequences of her own heart."
