Elise met her aunt's eyes.
"You can disinherit me. You can exile me from family gatherings. You can tell the elders whatever you wish. You can strike my name from the Winterhart records and pretend I never existed. But I will not marry Lord Calmfield. I will not return home. I am a Climber of Celestial Peak, and this is my choice. It is final."
The silence that followed was absolute.
Maris's composure cracked. It was a small thing... a tightening around her eyes, a slight thinning of her lips. But Nathan saw it. Everyone saw it. Beneath the polished surface, Lady Maris Winterhart was furious.
"You're making a mistake, Elise." Her voice was cold now. Truly cold. "The family will not forget this. Your mother will not forget this. When your 'climbing career' fails and it will fail, because all flimsy careers like that fail eventually...there will be no Winterhart waiting to catch you. No safety net. No inheritance. Nothing. You understand that?"
