Silver Linings

T E N

Genevieve

"WHO DOES THAT BASTARD THINK HE IS?" I MUTTER UNDER MY BREATH. I storm up the steps, holding my dress so I don't step on it. "He doesn't even know me."

I wipe the wet stains from my cheeks to remove any proof that I was crying. I can't believe he thinks he has the right to assume what kind of person I am and what my intentions are. How dare he tell me he wants to earn my trust and then stab me in the back whenever he thinks it's convenient. It's as if he gets a rise from humiliating me.

With my fists clenched to my sides, I march inside and up the steps. Then, I start checking every room. I find guest bedrooms, giant bathrooms, a library and a family den during my search but none of those are what I'm looking for.

I need to find Silas's office. His manor is far too large for me to be able to find anything without assistance but if I told the maids that I was trying to find his study for the sake of looking for evidence that he might be a merciless killer in Elgantis, I'd either be thrown out or have my secret told to Silas.

I can't let that happen. Not when I need these questions answered, like who wants to kill me and why. I've been isolated my entire life unless I was given the OK by my father and the only enemies I made would be the men whose egos I crushed every time we went out for a single date. Despite how nonchalant and direct I was about how little I wanted to do with them, that can't possibly be a good enough reason for one of them to want me dead. If that is the case, they're more pathetic than I thought.

I make it to the last door on the third floor and push the door open, revealing a giant room with a mahogany desk in its centre and shelves upon shelves of books and carefully organized files. This is it.

"It's about time," I whisper to myself and take a step inside, carefully closing the door behind me.

It's a lot neater than I thought. Considering how busy of a man Silas is, I expected it to be a chaotic mess but it's the complete opposite. But I shouldn't be surprised. I mean, he does have several maids and butlers to make sure this place is never dirty—I don't think I've seen a speck of dust since I unpacked.

Without wasting another second, I begin the search for the file. I don't know what I'm even looking for or what the title of the file could be but if it has anything to do with The Seven Deadly Sins Guild, it must have a title related to them. From what I'm gathering from the state of these folders, he keeps everything in a very specific order.

"Damn it," I mutter as another file comes back empty. "Where the hell is it?"

I go through each file on the shelf carefully, still determined. Maybe it isn't here and I was right about all of them being innocent. If it was here, it would have shown up already.

My eyes rake up and down the shelves before stopping on what that's slightly more out than the others. It looks like Silas pushed it in there in a rush, or maybe he made sure it was sticking out so it'd be easier to grab. I get on my toes and carefully pluck it out of its spot, reading the title.

Genevieve Rose Montgomery.
CONFIDENTIAL: DO NOT SHOW ANYONE.

This has to be what I'm looking for if the evidence wasn't in the files about the guild itself. Without a second thought, I open the file and start reading through it.

Silas wasn't joking when he said he knows more about me than I thought. My father gave him a folder about my entire life when I came to Eiram. It has information from my birthdate to the schools I attended as a girl, and what I do on a regular day in Elgantis. There isn't a single piece of information he hasn't left out.