The Flower That Grew from Ashes novel Chapter 101

Annelise felt her hands trembling by her sides.

It wasn't fear, but an intense, intoxicating thrill at the storm about to break.

She had to do something.

She couldn't let Barnum Lehman's plan succeed.

She couldn't let Elias be locked behind those heavy, cold doors.

She glanced at the stage, noting that everyone's attention was still glued to the brief commotion at the entrance.

This was the perfect opportunity.

She leaned over to Hackett's aunt, offering an apologetic smile while keeping her voice low.

"I'm so sorry, but I accidentally spilled my drink on my shoes earlier during the toasts. I'm going to go change them and be right back."

It was a perfectly reasonable excuse, one nobody could fault.

She didn't return to her bedroom on the second floor.

Instead, she gathered her skirts and practically sprinted in the opposite direction of the main banquet hall, heading straight for the estate's west side door.

It was the weakest point of the Lehman Estate's security.

Having lived here for four years, she knew every entrance, exit, and camera blind spot like the back of her hand.

She paused behind a thick cluster of decorative plants near the corner leading to the west door.

There, she spotted Felix, the head butler, urgently setting up a second line of defense with the head of security and a half-dozen bodyguards holding walkie-talkies.

"He broke through the main gate!"

The security chief's voice was breathy and panicked.

"That guy... he isn't human! Four of my best men rushed him, and we couldn't even slow him down!"

He was willing to do whatever it took to protect the hollow, fragile peace of today's events—a peace built entirely on a foundation of lies.

Annelise's mind raced as she weighed her options.

Should she help Elias get inside, or should she stand by and watch?

If she helped him, today's event would spiral into an irredeemable catastrophe.

Hackett and Clarissa's true colors would be exposed to the world.

The Lehman family's reputation would be shattered beyond repair.

And she would be caught in the very center of the storm, her own fate uncertain.

But if she did nothing, Elias would likely never make it past his father's ironclad barricades.

Which meant Clarissa and Hackett's lies would remain perfectly concealed forever.