Something cruel and amused flickered behind her eyes. She seized my arm, her grip bruising. "Oh, sister. Still here, clinging on with that shameless face of yours? Why bother occupying a place that was never yours?" She let out a little laugh. "Silly me, I forgot. You're so in love with Guy, you just can't bear to leave."

Before I could get a single word out, she raised her voice. "Someone, grab her!"

The guards swarmed in, locking my arms on both sides.

Their grip was crushing, enough to splinter bone. A vicious kick buckled my knees, and white-hot pain shot straight through my skull as I crashed to the floor.

I clenched my teeth so hard they ached, forcing words through the gap. "What the hell do you want, Mabel?"

"Let's make a little wager, sister. Let's see who Guy really cares about most."

Mabel pulled a bottle of red wine from the cabinet. She grabbed my chin and forced the wine into my mouth.

I was severely allergic to alcohol.

I clamped my jaw shut with everything I had, but the liquid still poured down my throat and into my stomach.

A searing burn blazed from my throat to my gut, then spread through my entire body.