#Chapter 198

Violet’s POV At the desk in my study, I rewound the footage of my speech at the Vainthott Estate yesterday. “You’re watching it again?” Lily asked from the other side of my desk where she stood a step behind Kincaid. “I told you both you could sit,” was my only response. They didn’t sit. I pressed play. My voice rang out through the small speakers on my laptop: “Since you clearly have no questions about the trade deal, we’ll end—” I remembered so clearly what had happened. As I had looked out on the reporters, chastising them with my eyes even as I kept my tone even, my mother appeared in the crowd. I was so shocked by her presence, I’d stopped mid-sentence. Then I could feel it, my attention being suctioned to her like a black hole. I needed to watch her, listen to her, follow her. It was this inarguable, inescapable need that drowned out everything else. I put the memory aside as I watched the footage again, trying to imagine what this looked like to those who d