CHAPTER 33

The moment the guard buzzed her in, Pearl felt the weight of every lie she’d ever swallowed settle on her shoulders. The metallic click of the door echoed louder than it should’ve, and for a split second, she hesitated—just long enough to feel the cold pinch of doubt snake around her spine. Her fingers gripped the strap of her purse tighter as if it were the only anchor she had left. As she stepped into the small visiting room, Fiona hadn't left. Her hands cuffed to the table but her smirk as free as ever. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, casting a sterile glow on Fiona’s disheveled but defiant appearance. She leaned back with all the attitude of a woman lounging poolside, not a disgraced heiress in holding. “Pearl leaned in, voice low. “I want to know who I slept with the night of the auction.” Her words sliced through the air, blunt and cold. Her heart thumped painfully in her chest as silence stretched, taut and uncomfortable. It was the question that had kept her up at