In the old traditions of the Valducci Dynasty, diamonds were not a symbol of wealth. They were a mark of disgrace. When a member of the family was excommunicated, cast out from the Dynasty's protection and erased from its ledgers, they were given a single diamond. One stone of monetary value. The last thing they would ever receive before they were exiled from the Valducci Fortress and stripped of the family name forever.
And I was not exiled.
I was going home.
From the kitchen, my mother-in-law's laughter drifted through the doorway, light and warm in a way she had never once been with me. Vanessa clung to her arm, playing the role of the doting goddaughter with the skill of a woman who had rehearsed it in the mirror.
"Auntie, how can you work so hard all alone in here? If I had been around these past years, I would never have let you lift a finger."
"This child!" Jane's voice was honey and venom. "Of course things would have been different if it had been you. Oh, Vanessa, let Mia help the staff with the dishes. You've never had to do such things, and look at you, so kind even to the household help."
Her tone shifted, the warmth curdling into something pointed and deliberate.