Breaking into quiet sobs, I pushed through the crowd and went out into a hallway. I didn't want anyone else to see me. I was horrified at what had just happened. No one followed, and I was thankful. I needed to be alone in my humiliation.

I ran down the long hallway, and into the kitchen, and pushed past a startled server, dressed in a formal jacket and dark apron. I heard a tray crash to the ground, but I kept running. Hitting a back door to the house, I scrambled through a courtyard. Warm tears slid down my face and I didn't know where I was or where I was going. I just ran.

Finding myself in the barn, I crept into Bella's stall. Classical music was playing in the background. Maxwell had told me it kept the horses calm at night. The barn was barely lit, and the quiet was soothing. I stood in the near dark of the stall, and sobbed like a child into Bella's neck, while she nuzzled me, looking for apples. Where had it all gone wrong?

That was a stupid question. It had gone wrong when Mother had set me up, and I had fallen for it completely, like an ignorant child. She had suggested the flapper costume, as well as the silver color. Mother had even found the seamstress. What do you want to bet that she had called the same seamstress that made Savannah's costume last year?

I stroked Bella’s rough mane and buried my face in her velvety soft neck. I breathed in her good, horsey scent while I tried to reason it all out.

Mother couldn't have risked me going into town to find a local to sew the costume because everyone around here would have known Savannah was a flapper last year. Maybe the locals would have stopped me from making this terrible mistake, and hurting Nathan like I just had. Her friendliness towards me was just a big act. A lie.

My chest hurt from sobbing, and from my feelings of betrayal. I had really wanted to build my relationship with Mother. What new bride didn’t want to forge a friendship with her new mother-in-law?

I thought about all the times Mother had called me Darby, instead of Ms. Turner. I thought about how we had joked around with each other, and collaborated on the party planning, acting like a team.

I had thought I was making real progress, and now I knew it was all a lie. Just some damn game Mother had been playing all along.

I was so stupid.

My sobbing began again, renewed. I leaned my head into Bella once more.

Really, it wasn't fair of me to call myself stupid, because ever since I had arrived at Peacock Alley, I had merely wanted to be accepted. Not as a poor substitute to the incomparable Savannah, but as me. I had thought it was finally happening, and that the ball would be my big moment, the major turning point. It was all for nothing.

What should I do now? My beloved husband was beyond angry with me, and he hadn't given me a chance to explain myself. The crowd from the foyer was feeling sorry for me. The guests who were now arriving wouldn't know what was happening; just that Nathan Randolph's new bride was a no-show at the big event.

I turned away from Bella and kicked the barn stall, startling the horse a little.

I know I needed to go greet them in my role as the dutiful hostess of Peacock Alley, but now I didn't even have a costume for my own party. I grabbed a handful of the fringe that had seemed so beautiful to me not more than thirty minutes ago. Now it was a joke.

No way was I letting anyone else see me dressed like this. At best, they would think I was an idiot who didn't know better; at worst, they would think I was malicious and spiteful and dressed this way on purpose to resurrect a dark past. Neither scenario was acceptable to me.

Doormat Darby was fully present at the party, but I was over that girl.

It was time I grew up. I was going to this damn ball, and I wouldn't allow anyone to make me feel small.

My crying slowed, and I finally wiped the last of my tears away. I was exhausted and feeling like an empty husk, but I straightened my shoulders and stood tall.

I heard the barn door open and close, and heavy footsteps came down the aisle. I tried to be quiet and still, but my heart was pounding in my chest. I most definitely didn't want to be found.

Bella's stall door opened, and Nathan appeared. He knew me well. He knew exactly where I would go to hide, to find comfort. My heart lifted when I saw him, but I couldn’t help but feel a little afraid, too.

“I didn’t know about the costume. I promise.” My voice was thick with tears. I had to clear my throat to continue. “Please believe me.”

Nathan didn’t answer me. He grabbed my arm and led me to an empty stall across the aisle. I thought maybe now we could talk, and I could explain that I didn't know about the costume. I thought perhaps we could lean on each other, and find a way forward together.

I was wrong, of course.

He turned to face me. "Tell me the truth. Tell me why you dressed like Savannah." Nathan was still angry, but worse than the anger, he sounded cold.

"I didn't know she was dressed as a flapper last year! I'm telling you the truth!" My voice rose as I tried to convince him of my sincerity.

"I can't stand looking at you dressed like this, Darby. Trying to look like her." His voice showed his disgust.

That hurt.

Nathan took me by the arm and roughly snapped the spaghetti straps holding up the costume. He ripped the dress off my body, and I was left standing in my expensive lingerie. My head dropped. I had imagined us stealing away together during the party to reveal to him the sinful treasures I was wearing underneath my dress, but never like this. Never like this.

He stepped back and removed his belt.

"Bend over."

Terrified, I backed away, my eyes wide, my breath coming in short gasps.

"Don't make this even worse than it already is." That cold voice, those flat eyes. This was not the Nathan I knew.

“Why aren’t you listening to me? I’m telling the truth!” I just managed not to yell the words, but I could feel my panic building.

He advanced on me. I couldn't bring myself to submit to him when his eyes were so cold. Before when we played, he was rough with my body, but his eyes were always so tender and caring. Not tonight.

Nathan retook my arm. I risked a peek at his face, but his eyes were still distant. I tried to pull free because I didn't like this distance between us. He spun me around, so I was facing the wall, and he positioned my hands against the wall at about waist-height for me.

"Bend over." He had shut himself off from me.

This didn’t feel right. Nathan had spanked me before, and it had always felt like a game. It was frequently a turn on. But not tonight.

With a harsh whistling sound, the belt struck me lightly across the backs of my thighs.

“That was just a warning. Bend over.” His voice was warming with his growing anger.

Who thought being hit with a belt was a turn on? I’m sure somebody did, but not this girl.

I had to stop this before it went too far.

I turned around to face him, chin raised in defiance. I held up a hand to ward off the belt.

“No. We aren’t doing this. Not this way, and not this night.” My voice was strong and clear this time.

Nathan’s eyebrows raised, and he looked at me for a moment, considering.

I held his gaze. I wasn’t going to back down.

I heard Nathan drop the belt. I could see it out of the corner of my eye, curled up like a snake. I was as wary of it as if it really were a snake, coiled and ready to strike. I had worried about coming across snakes at Peacock Alley. I just didn't expect the snake to be in the form of a belt.

Nathan ran a hand over the back of his neck, and he suddenly looked tired. His shoulders slumped as if he were carrying a heavy burden. But how would I know about his burdens? He rarely told me anything about his emotional concerns.

He blew out a breath and shook his head, straightening to his full, imposing height.

“Come here.” He held out his hand to me, but his voice was still harsh and cold. I didn’t take it.

Nathan scanned me from head to toe. I wearing my gorgeous lingerie that I had put on with him in mind. My jaw tightened, and my eyes narrowed at his reaction. Was that the faintest beginnings of sexual desire in his eyes? Unbelievable.

I knew where this was going. He was going to hold me close, and then he would want to make love.

I remained frozen in place. I didn't feel the slightest bit like having sex with him.

My husband had been hurt by my costume choice. I knew his feelings were real, even if he wouldn’t talk about them with me, but so was the anger that was beginning to boil in my soul.

I had done nothing wrong. I knew this to be true. I was my harshest critic, but I knew I was innocent of the crime of which he had tried and convicted me. I didn't deserve this punishment. I didn't deserve his anger.

I did not give a shit about his feelings at this particular moment. A slow burn moved from my toes to my head.

He reached for me, but I stepped back. Usually, I lived for those moments, when I knew he desired me. The sex between us was always explosive and highly satisfying. But not tonight.

Nathan stepped forward.

Maybe he had chosen to forgive me. But was I ready to forgive him?

I balled up my fist and cold-cocked him right in the nose.

Tiny as I was, my fury made me strong, and he didn't see the blow coming. His head snapped back, and I freely admit, it was a satisfying moment. Asshole.

But I was not done.

"Don't you dare touch me, Nathan." My voice was strained and hoarse again from all my crying, but an underlying fierceness was emerging. I stepped away from him.

Tears flowed down my face again, and this time I didn't fight them. Let them come. Let everybody see. For once in my life, I didn't care what anybody else thought of me.

It was time somebody heard ME. My voice mattered, my thoughts and feelings were important, too. Fuck everybody who thought they could run all over me, who thought they could control me. I was done. Doormat Darby was gone.

It was time everybody, including me, saw who Darby Turner Randolph really was.

Nathan looked pale.

Too bad he wasn’t bleeding. I wanted to see the effects of my anger. I was certainly feeling them myself.

I approached him, hands on my hips. He didn’t back away, and soon we were almost touching.

"For the last few months, ever since we got married, I've been hiding from the ghost of your first wife. She has been everywhere I have gone. Savannah was at the top of the Empire State building when we had our first date. She stood between my new mother-in-law and me. That bitch whispered in the ear of every visitor to Peacock Alley when they came to judge your new bride. She was in the fucking garden house when I was exploring. Savannah was holding that butt ugly vase when it fell to the floor and shattered."

I broke off because my voice was weakening. I took a breath and had to step back.

Nathan was staring at me, eyes wide and jaw open. Good. I wanted him to feel my pain. I couldn't stop the words from coming, one after another.

"I walk into a room, and I smell her perfume. Her ghost has been everywhere I have gone. Savannah takes every step I take. Or so I thought."

I paced back and forth in the small stall, then turned to face him.

"No more. I realized tonight that Savannah doesn't haunt the halls and pathways of Peacock Alley. She's not a ghost. She's dead and gone."

Nathan stood there in silence, watching me. Why didn’t he say something?

I grabbed a horse blanket from a hook on the wall and wrapped it around my near-naked body. I threw my head back and straightened my shoulders. I made my way to the door of the barn, and I looked back at my stunned husband.

As I spoke, my voice broke one last time. "I'm the ghost of Peacock Alley, not Savannah. I'm the one who is invisible."