Glittering Promises Read Online Free PDF

for?” she cried. I froze, then made myself turn the knob, knowing I shouldn’t eavesdrop.
    “Listen to me. Listen to me . Was it Nell or Cora who put these romantic expectations into your head?”
    I paused again at the sound of my name.
    “None that weren’t there before! None that you didn’t make me yearn for, once. But now? Honestly, Andrew—why do we even bother with the charade? If this is all there is between us, let’s go to a judge, sign the papers, and begin our business arrangement in earnest. For that’s what it is, isn’t it? A business arrangement? Not a marriage?”
    “You’re acting most unsuitable, Vivian.”
    “Am I? Let go of me!”
    I looked at my guard in alarm. Antonio glowered and pulled the door fully open as if he intended to rush downstairs and intervene. But I reached out and took hold of his arm. “Vivian?” I called out, turning and leaning over the railing, as if I’d heard just enough to wonder but not enough to be alarmed. “Is that you?”
    They stilled below us.
    “Yes,” she called up a second later. “It’s me, Cora. Forgive me for disturbing you.”
    “Oh, you didn’t,” I said. “I just thought I heard something. Are you all right?”
    “Fine, fine,” she said, each word laced with weariness.
    “Are you alone? I thought I heard—”
    “Yes,” she said. I could hear the iciness in her tone gaining strength. “Andrew was just leaving. We’ve come to an understanding. We’ve decided to end our courtship.”
    Antonio and I held our breath and stared at each other. A few seconds later, the door below opened and then slammed shut.
    This time, the sound of shattering glass was unmistakable.

CHAPTER 4
    ~Cora~
    Antonio and I raced downstairs and could hear Vivian and Andrew yelling even before we reached her room. Will was at Vivian’s door, beside Pascal, knocking and shouting, demanding they open up. Father hurried toward us, gray brows low over his eyes, one hand perched in a vest pocket.
    We heard Viv cry out and Andrew shout—a thump against a wall, then another. Will and Pascal shared a quick look, then both took a step back and hit the door with their shoulders as one, cracking the doorjamb and lock off and leaving it open by a few inches. Will pulled back and kicked the door open.
    Vivian was standing in Andrew’s arms over by two chairs, her face wet with tears, and both looked at us in alarm.
    “McCabe!” Andrew said, turning to face him, as if protecting Vivian. But I knew better. He didn’t want us to see any more of her tear-stained face. “What on earth do you think you are doing?”
    “We heard Vivian’s cry,” Will said, striding right over to him. “And you didn’t respond to our summons at the door!” He tried to move around Andrew, but Andrew lifted an arm to block him. Will took hold of his jacket lapels and wrenched him away from Vivian. We could all see the dark fingerprints on her bare arms beneath her tidy capped sleeves.
    Will let out a bellow of anger as he rammed Andrew against the wall. Andrew pushed back, but Will shoved him against the wall again, so hard that bits of plaster fell over the dark fabric of Andrew’s jacket above his shoulder.
    Vivian yelled, “No, no!” even as I moved to intercede.
    We stood on either side of them, tugging at them to get them to see their surroundings, anything other than the other man each sought to harm, but it was as if we were trying to pry magnetic plates apart.
    “Enough!” my father bellowed.
    Vivian looked over her shoulder and hurriedly wiped her eyes. “Father,” she said, “it’s all been a terrible misunderstanding.”
    I looked at her in wide-eyed frustration as Nell and Lil reached the doorway and entered, Felix and Hugh right behind them. “Wh-what do you mean, a misunderstanding?” I sputtered. “Viv, it’s all right. It’s perfectly acceptable to tell the truth. You don’t need to pretend any—”
    “Hush,” my father said.
    “But even you can surely