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For years, his ht cries the only evidence of her pain But she had borne her undeserved shanity Had risen above his father’s petty tantrums She had survived the years of torth he admired

But then his father died, and the depth of the scoundrel’s hatred beca Miles would eventually tak

e his rightful place as the Greystone heir had given hisher son inherited nothing but the gloomy house and a modest income sent her into a doard spiral of melancholy and ill health

On her deathbed, Miles had promised to be a Greystone to rival his honourable ancestors And by God, he’d do everything in his power to ensure it happened

Even if he died trying

Miles found Dariell standing guard on the manor’s front steps His friend reaze scanned the shrubbery around the gravel drive and the cluster of trees hidden behind the misty veil

“Two more men came,” Dariell said calmly “Drake, he dealt with them both swiftly”

“That ht in total”

“A reasonable nu” Dariell’s dark eyes settled on Miles He knew better than to mention the incident at the stones “Your brothers, they seemed shocked by your return”

Stephen and Edwin had sauntered into the drawing room as if they owned the damn manor They’d expected to find the front door open, expected to find Gilligan sipping brandy in his , fists clenched and ready to fight

“No doubt my father’s sons prayed I’d drowned in a shipwreck or died of a tropical disease”

“Agreed” Dariell nodded “They despise you almost as much as you despise them”

Despise was too tame a word

Miles shifted his awareness to the ugly bitterness filling his chest His need for revenge was like an open wound in his heart, oozing and festering There was only one course of treatreed on His friend believed bad feelings only served to corrupt the soul

“Their mother conditioned them to hate er “Imelda’s spiteful comments were like a sharp blade to my mother’s heart”