Chapter 436

• In less than an hour, she was expected to attend the lavish dinner organized in honor of King Kabir’s recovery and his return as supreme ruler of Qubbah. And somehow she was going to have to do so without revealing that she was breaking up inside, which Kate acknowledged despairingly as she stared in the mirror at her paper-white face and red-rimmed eyes.
• When she first returned to the palace after her explosive confrontation with Malika, she locked herself in her dressing room and recalled, in stunned disbelief, everything the young Arab woman had told her. Could it be true? Had Ahsan always intended to divorce her once he’d gained custody of Hazem and marry his beautiful advisor?
• She did not know how long she’d sat there, but eventually her maid had knocked on the door and reminded her that it was time to prepare for the banquet. She should have made the excuse that she was ill—no one who saw her pallor would fail to believe her. But the steely backbone of pride that had seen her through so many traumas in her life refused to bow to Malika’s spite, and in fighting spirits she had selected a stunning black velvet floor-length gown that clung to her curves like a second skin. She'd left her hair loose to fall down her back in a mass of vibrant curls, but she admitted bleakly that it would take a miracle and a lot of make-up to conceal the ravages of her utter misery.