The formal, heavy card arrived by messenger, unexpected and almost certainly a calculated move. It was an invitation to the Industrialists’ Grand Banquet, the most exclusive event of the season, hosted by the mayor himself.
Silas Lockhart would undoubtedly be the guest of honor, parading his wealth and influence.
My first instinct was to decline. Society still viewed me with suspicion, and the thought of facing that gilded cage again made my stomach clench. But then, a thought struck me with the force of a revelation.
This was it. My chance. My only chance for a direct confrontation in a setting where Silas’s reputation was everything.
I held the invitation, its heavy vellum feeling like a gauntlet. If I was to truly challenge him, it had to be here, in the glare of public scrutiny.
I spent hours preparing. I chose my deepest emerald gown, a dress Thomas always said brought out the fire in my eyes. I practiced my words in front of the mirror, the phrases of the ledger, the questions about his integrity.
My hands trembled as I fastened my pearl earrings. This meeting would determine not just Arthur’s dignity, or Thomas’s career. It might well determine the trajectory of my entire family’s future.
I would face my brother, armed with the truth, and no longer willing to be silenced.
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