Avery's tears fall slowly onto the page. The red ink blurs and runs, and she snaps the book shut before she ruins anything else. Her phone buzzes and she tries to read the text through her tears. She sees it's from Andrew, and her heart sinks. She wipes her eyes and reads the message: "When shall I pick you up?"
She starts to type a response but then stops. She deletes the message from Andrew and locks her phone. She reaches for a tissue on the nightstand and wipes her eyes. She's about to walk to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face when the doors fly open.
"Mrs. Howel, Mr. Howel is in the study, and he's gone into a rage," a servant says. "He hit Robert really hard. Please go see if you can calm him—everyone else is too scared to even walk past the room."