Chapter 261

CASSANDRA

Helene didn’t utter a word on our way to the ladies‘ room but conducted herself very politely. Her pretty face remained smiling, and the expression was so fixed it was as if she had been born smiling. It was unnerving after a while, and I kept waiting for it to falter, but her face never changed.

Once the door to the bathroom was shut tightly behind us, I tried to talk with her and attempted to coax her out of her daze.

“Are you feeling better?” I asked. “I heard that you were ill with some sort of sickness.”

“It was just a cold,” Helene replied nonchalantly. “It was nothing to worry about. I’ve fully recovered now.”

I nodded my head and after a moment of pause, I tried again. “I heard about your maid as well-”

“It was all just a rumor,” she cut me off before I could finish my sentence. “The maid resigned because her mother passed away. I suppose that someone wanted to use such gossip to demean my fiance, but it couldn’t be farther from the truth.”

She turned to face the mirror and smoothed her caramel–colored hair down. My eyebrows creased together as I tried to make sense of it all. Her movements, her expression, her tone, even her words… it all seemed so rehearsed. It was so eerie and strange like she was a puppet or something.

I waited a little while and then decided to probe her further.

“Helene, did something happen?” I asked directly. “You don’t seem like your usual self.”

She turned to face me and her smile grew even more exaggerated, as if she were putting on a show or something. Her berry–painted lips were curled into a chilling grin and after a second or two, I had to glance elsewhere.

“Don’t worry about me,” she assured me, and then she turned to face the mirror.

Something definitely wasn’t right. No matter what I asked, Helene answered me without much consideration, as if she had her answers prepared beforehand. Everything about her felt so fake, it was almost as if she were someone else entirely.

I wasn’t sure what was going on. Was she behaving this way because she didn’t want to risk being overheard? Surely this place wasn’t the best place to speak about the plan, but I began to wonder if she decided not to carry out her escape at all. Maybe she thought I was unreliable and didn’t want to follow through.

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I decided to try again. I took a step closer toward her, we were completely alone, and

marble bathroom to

my voice to

the plan still going to happen? Or do

Confusion painted her expression and she blinked her honey brown eyes at me

you talking about?” she asked as she stared

I

and I stared back at her in shock. Why did she seem so unaware of what we

Helene if she’d decided not to escape and find her freedom outside of Vlokwell, but as I stared into her eyes, I realized that her confusion wasn’t

no idea of what I was speaking

Helene was truly confused and didn’t know what I was speaking of. She had forgotten about our talks, and even worse, she

It

set in, I tried to make

sickness that had left her bedridden for days? No, that couldn’t be possible. She would have had to be on death’s door in order for her mind to be so

this.

seemed to snap out of

smile.

the party,” she remarked. “Ronald is waiting for me, I’m sure. I don’t like

Ronald had me confused. She seemed so deeply in love with

What had changed?

was likely wondering where we were, and I didn’t want to keep him waiting for her sake, I wasn’t sure if

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Chapter 261

and I couldn’t

stepped into the hall,

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like to visit

to visit my chamber tomorrow?” I wondered. “I would love to have you over so you can try some tea I brought from the

at all. She genuinely sounded like

course,” I

at the party,

go shopping with Cassandra out of town if you want,” he said with a smile,

far from you,” she

I was chilled

Something wasn’t right.

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