Was Cixi supposed to say something against Rafael?
The question sat at the back of her throat while Emily kept pacing. Cixi had met Rafael twice. She had heard him announce, at a dinner table, that he intended to marry her as a joke. She had not enjoyed the announcement. She had not enjoyed the way his eyes had moved across her body in the seconds before he said the words.
But this was Emily's anger, not Cixi's. This was Emily's and Crown Empire's, and had nothing to do with her even though she had a 15 percent share... Why would he give her so much? One per cent would also have worked, in her opinion....
Did Emily really want Cixi to sit here and feel sorry for her? Emily had not, in any of the days since Cixi had moved into the Palace, behaved as if Cixi were a person whose feelings she was interested in receiving.
She had not replied to Cixi's message. She had not answered Cixi's call.
