TWENTY

At 8:00 in the morning, Juliette is dressed in a tight green dress Warner has chosen for her, feeling exposed after a lifetime of covering her skin to protect others from her lethal touch. Her thoughts remain fixed on Adam, who touched her safely, left after their emotional shower encounter, and left Juliette full of dangerous new hope.

Juliette waits alone in a blue room with her notebook in her pocket until Warner arrives without guards. Warner compliments Juliette’s appearance, but Juliette refuses to soften toward him and directly accuses Warner of wanting to turn her into a weapon and a monster.

Warner says they are there for breakfast and then a schedule. Servants who look thin and worn bring in food, reminding Juliette of the suffering under Warner’s world, and Warner tells Juliette they need to become better acquainted because they will spend so much time together.

When Juliette refuses to eat, Warner becomes severe and tells Juliette she is not allowed to starve, harm herself, or commit suicide because Juliette is too valuable to him. Juliette rejects being treated like Warner’s toy, but Warner responds by attacking Juliette’s deepest wounds: the hatred, fear, abandonment, and betrayal Juliette has faced from society and from Juliette’s own parents.

Warner frames himself as the only person willing to offer Juliette equality, power, and revenge against everyone who hurt her. Juliette recognizes that Warner’s motives are monstrous even though Warner’s words about Juliette’s past are true, and the unexpected attention unsettles Juliette. Warner insists that he and Juliette are alike, reveals he is nineteen, and orders Juliette to eat because they have work to do.