Flashback

On the eve of the infamous contract’s expiration, Elizabeth asked James to take her to the Walker family’s lawyer’s office. On the way, she gazed out the window with a distant expression, lost in thoughts that James discreetly noticed were different this time, but he didn’t comment.

Upon arriving, Elizabeth stepped out of the car with her natural elegance, but her steps, though steady, bore the weight of a decision.

Inside the office, she was greeted courteously by the family lawyer,