Emily’s POV

The drive felt like a funeral procession, only I was the corpse being dragged to my own execution. The two female bodyguards sat on either side of me, their presence suffocating. I didn’t fight them anymore…not because I had given up, but because I refused to give my father the satisfaction of watching me struggle.

But my hate? That was alive. Burning.

I stared out the tinted window as the city blurred past, my nails digging into my palms. My father’s men drove in silence, the car’s engine the only sound in the stifling air. I could still feel the rough grip of those women on my arms,...