"Okay." No. Not okay. Everything was already poised to break around them. There was no avoiding the unasked question, though. She could deflect and try to talk her away around her reasoning, but at the end of the day she did the unforgivable: she drugged him. Ben would be right to cast her aside, to divorce her and publicly shame her. There was no turning back, though. It was done - they were married.

Swallowing against the growing lump in her throat, Melody quietly prepared for the end. "I heard a servant talking about some reveal at midnight, and I panicked…I had to get us out of there. I couldn't risk you not listening to me." Melody was already butchering this explanation. He had to already know what was unspoken, but she still had to say the words. She still had to take a hammer to them. "I used the potion. But I didn't - I never - I just had to get you to leave the party. That was my only intention...I swear."