Return of the General's Daughter

Lara’s face remained perfectly still, her expression unreadable. They watched her carefully, bracing for the crack in her composure, the outburst, the pain.

The solution had already been quietly decided: if Lara showed even the slightest hurt, they would return Mira to her family. Compensation would be given—money, inheritance, whatever was needed to make things right.

But Lara simply breathed in, slow and steady. Her eyes lingered on Mira’s perfect smile, then drifted back to her father. Could she blame them? she wondered bitterly. When she had been gone, they had been alone. Grieving... Lost... And Mira had slipped into that emptiness like a phantom, filling the void with light and laughter.

Lara straightened her back, the storm of emotion settling behind her eyes. "I understand," she said softly, her voice steady, "Thank you for explaining."

Reya sobbed openly, her face crumpled with grief and fury, both for Lara and herself. "But Miss..."

Bener shot her a sharp glance, silencing her with a flick of his hand.

"It was Mira’s two maids who struck Lara and Reya," Bener said slowly, voice low and measured, as if afraid the words themselves might shatter. "The next thing they knew, they were bound in a carriage..." He stopped, his mouth tightening.

Lara’s eyes found Galahad’s. She searched his expression, pleading for answers she couldn’t remember. Did he investigate? What did he find out? Lara had no memory of what happened. Only Reya told her about their abduction.

Galahad cleared his throat. "I investigated. The maids acted on their own. One of them was Hook’s woman. The trafficker’s original target was Mira, but the maid couldn’t bring herself to hurt her mistress. When she learned that you were coming, she conspired with Hook. The abduction was planned, and the staging of your death—that was Hook’s idea."