Chapter 17 (Daphne): Summary, Analysis, and Key Themes
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
A week after the events of the previous chapter, Daphne stands at the center of her engagement party at Washington Palace. The ballroom is crowded and glittering, and she wears a narrow-waisted white dress with blue embroidery, her hair swept into an updo. On the surface, this is the culmination of everything she has worked toward. But the reality is less perfect than she dreamed: several high-ranking guests stare at her with confusion and distaste, openly questioning why Jefferson would tie himself to the daughter of a disgraced former baronet when he could have chosen anyone.
Adding to her anxiety, another anonymous threatening email has arrived in her inbox that afternoon. The message claims she is in love with the best man and should call off the wedding. Daphne suspects Gabriella is behind it, though Ethan remains uncertain. She spends the evening greeting guests beside Jefferson, but eventually catches Ethan's eye and signals him to follow her.
They meet in a hallway, and Daphne pulls Ethan into a linen closet filled with royal-crested sheets and pillowcases. She shows him the email. The message reads as if written by someone who knows her intimately—someone who despises her. Daphne explains that Nina believes she is in love with Ethan, and she dismisses Nina's theory as self-serving, arguing that Nina needs to believe Daphne loves someone else to justify her own desire to win Jefferson back.
Daphne then hands Ethan three thousand dollars in cash, money she earned by selling pieces of her wardrobe without revealing the buyer's identity. She wants him to convert it to cryptocurrency or otherwise handle the payment to Rei, so she can stay uninvolved. Ethan notes that Rei takes cash, and the two share a tense moment.
Suddenly, footsteps approach the closet door. In a single motion, Ethan pushes Daphne against the wall behind a shelving unit and kisses her, hiding her from view. The intruder chuckles, assumes the room is occupied, and leaves. Daphne is stunned by the kiss—by how readily her body responded, how familiar and intoxicating it felt. Ethan explains he was hiding her; the intruder only saw him. He had even kicked her voluminous skirts behind the shelving to conceal her identity. Daphne, flustered and angry, tells him to forget it ever happened and returns to the party.
Her luck does not improve. Gabriella intercepts her in the ballroom, having noticed her disappearance. Daphne claims she was in the ladies' room, but Gabriella reveals she was just there. Gabriella then delivers a cruel monologue: she blames herself for letting Daphne and Jefferson get as far as they did, says she assumed Jefferson would sleep with Daphne until he got bored, and declares she would settle for getting rid of Daphne. Most devastatingly, Gabriella reveals that she coined the