The air in the room grew heavy, charged with a tension that threatened to shatter the very walls.
"Another wife?" Isabella's voice dropped to a dangerous, disbelieving whisper. "Have you finally lost your mind?"
"Yes, Isabella," she replied, her voice hauntingly hollow. "It would be better for him. My presence... my very consciousness... it is as if he is shackled to a demon."
The silence that followed was broken by the sharp, stinging crack of a palm meeting flesh. The blow sent her head snapping to the side, the world spinning for a heartbeat.
"Isabella! You wretch! How dare you strike me?" she gasped, clutching her burning cheek.
Isabella didn't flinch. "You looked like you were in desperate need of it."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
