HER fist sank into the mattress with a muffled thud. The sting of failure shot up her arm, but it wasn’t physical pain she felt, it was fury. Every muscle in her body tensed as she gritted her teeth, nails digging into her palm.

Her mind raced, spinning through every possible angle she could have taken, every word, every gesture, every strategy that had failed spectacularly. She had imagined this moment a thousand times: Charles weak, tempted, vulnerable. She had seen him in her mind’s eye, trapped under her spell, helplessly drawn to her, and now— now he had walked out.

Her jaw tightened. How dare he? After all the...