Elisabeth's POV
The words hit me like ice water. "You cannot be serious right now!" My voice cracked with disbelief, but my mother's expression remained stone cold. That blank stare told me everything I needed to know. She meant every word.
I whipped around to face Julian, my eyes blazing. He stood there with his arms folded, wearing that insufferable smirk that made my skin crawl. "What exactly did you tell her?"
My mother's tongue clicked against her teeth in that dismissive way that always made my blood boil. "Nobody told me anything," she said, her voice maddeningly calm. "And nobody forces me to do anything I don't choose to do under ordinary circumstances."
Ordinary circumstances. The phrase tasted bitter in my mouth. Nothing about any of this was ordinary.
"Perfect," I snarled. "If this brilliant idea came from you, then enjoy your stay at his place. I'm leaving."
