Life at home became extremely quiet after Titania left. There was some sort of emptiness and Juliet felt a little zoned out. Mrs Rosewood, after recovering from the initial shock, busied herself with preparing for Juliet's upcoming wedding.

One morning, whilst she was preparing for her daily walk, Juliet heard a knock on the door. Cautiously, she opened the door and found a woman wearing a tight, revealing green dress staring at her.

"Is this the Rosewood residence?" the woman purred.

"Yes." Juliet frowned. "I'm sorry but we do not welcome indecent women like you."

The woman snorted and gave her a once-over. Smirking, the woman said, "Don't get your knickers into a twist, m'lady. Our mistress wants to see you. Woman to woman."

"Who's your mistress?" Juliet asked a little puzzledly.

The woman licked her lips. "Caroline of course. The Seductress."

"I'm not going to see her," Juliet said firmly and closed the door but the woman blocked it with her hands.

"You do not refuse our mistress' commands," the woman hissed. "Do you not know how many people would kill to meet her? I mean it in every literal sense. She's the most powerful woman in this town. Asides from the Queen of course."

"Look here," Juliet hissed. "I do not have time for your mistress' childish games and I've no need to see her. We aren't even acquaintences."

"Turn up at Whitechapel tonight. Or you will face the consequences." With that, the mysterious woman disappeared.

Juliet stared at the empty space. For a moment, she thought of ignoring the stranger's words but there was lingering doubt in her mind.

In spite of herself, Juliet wanted to know who her love rival was and how she looked like.

And whether she herself was worthy of Edmund's love.

***********

That night, Juliet dressed down as a maid and put on a cloak. As her horse carriage clattered on in the night, she stared at the pale, silverish moon in the horizon and wondered what she had gotten herself into.

When the horse carriage pulled up infront of the sleazy establishment, the driver helped Juliet out. She thanked him politely and gave him a tip.

"M'lady, are you sure you should venture in alone?" the driver asked worriedly.

"Just stay outside. If need be, I will call for help," Juliet answered with a smile.

As she folded her cloak, she marched confidently into the tattered old building. Inside, people were gambling their lives and money away. There was the stench of booze and vomit.

Suddenly, Juliet felt someone grab her waist.

"Hey, 'lil girl." The drunkard slurred. "Do you want to have some fun?" His waist moved lower down her body.

"Get away," Juliet muttered and tried shoving away from him but his grip on her grew tighter.

"Come on, com-Oof." Within a split second, the drunkard flew away from her and smashed against the wall.

Juliet looked up to find a woman dressed in a revealing black dress standing next to her. "Get him out and make sure he doesn't step in here again," she growled to her two bodyguards who proceeded to drag the drunkard away.

When the woman turned towards her, she smiled, revealing a set of pearly-white, straight teeth. "Welcome to The Seductress," she said smoothly. "I'm Caroline. The owner of this den."

*******

After Juliet settled in a room, she stared at her love rival. There was something exotic and dangerous about this woman.

Caroline's dark black hair was tied in an unruly bunch and her tight black dress showed off curves Juliet knew she herself would never possess. Even the way Caroline moved resembled a predator- beautiful and lethal.

"Brandy?" Caroline asked and Juliet looked up startled.

"No thanks. I don't drink," she said politely.

"Oh right. I forgot. Prim and proper ladies don't drink," Caroline snorted and proceeded to pour a glass of whisky for herself.

Holding her drink, Caroline crossed the room and lounged on a sofa, sipping the alcohol.

"You wished to see me?" Juliet straightened up. Seeing Caroline in person only made her aware of her own short-comings. It seemed almost ludicrous that Edmund could resist Caroline.

"Oh yes." Caroline shrugged. "To be honest, it's more of my own curiosity. I wanted to know how the elusive Juliet Rosewood would look like."

"And?" Juliet prompted impatiently. There was no way Caroline would call her all the way to Whitechapel just for a friendly visit.

"And I must say, the rumors don't do you justice." Caroline eyed her carefully. "Contrary to what everyone has said, I know why Edmund's attracted to you. You're exactly his type."

"Is this about Edmund?" Juliet's heart pounded. Steady now. "Are you after him?" she blurted out and then immediately blushed. How could anyone ask that?

Fortunately, Caroline merely seemed amused. "I like your attitude. Since I'm equally forthright, I will tell you right now. Yes, I like Edmund. I'm after him."

Juliet remained silent. It was perhaps fortunate that Caroline didn't choose to hide her intentions but she didn't know how to react to this.

Sensing Juliet's discomfort, Caroline laughed, "Now, now, don't get so alarmed. I'm not here to snatch your soon-to-be husband away. I just want to tell you now that I will pursue him but I won't seduce him unless he wishes to."

"Why don't you just sod off?" Juliet said angrily. "Leave us alone."

"Uh-uh." Caroline smiled, her cherry-red lips stretching wider. "What fun would that be? Besides, I know what you're thinking. You must be thinking that Edmund would never do that, am I right?"

Juliet could only stare at the strange woman mutely. She had exactly voiced out her thoughts.

"But." Caroline sipped her brandy. "We will never know, would we? Men are different but all strangely the same. Don't be surprised that Edmund ends up in my bed."

"Is that a threat?" Juliet stood up and glared.

"No, no. It's not a threat. Don't mistake me," Caroline cooed. "It's me staking my territory here."

"You're shameless enough to try and snatch away a soon-to-be-married man," Juliet hissed. "And calling me all the way here to tell me that is beyond childish."

"Don't be such a fuss, darling." Caroline smirked. "A man is never unavailable until the day he's married. Besides, I called you all the way here not just because of Edmund but also because of your darling sister Titania."

"Titania?" Juliet's head jerked up. "What about her?"

"I've taken her under my wing," Caroline answered. "She's a delightful natural at being a prostitute."

"And?"

"So if you don't want your little sister to be in any danger, you'd better heed my words. I've the power to make your precious Titania miserable like hell." Caroline continued.

"What on earth do you want me to do?" Juliet asked angrily.

"I want you to break off your engagement to Edmund." Caroline stood up and smiled. "Immediately."

"No. I love Edmund. You can't make me do that."

"Can't I?" Caroline smiled and snapped her fingers. Two men entered the room and without turning her head, Caroline said, "Boys, I want you to drag the girl called Titania out into the woods and torture her slowly."

"You b-" Juliet stared, horrified. "Are you a human with conscience? How can you resort to such despicable means?"

For the first time, Caroline's face turned angry. Her cat-like eyes narroed into slits and her blood-red lips twisted smaller and smaller. "I wouldn't have had to resort to all these if Edmund had given himself up to me. I want him. I WANT HIM."

"You bloody, selfish prick."

"Aren't we all selfish here?" Caroline flicked her hands. "I will give you three days to decide. You can marry Edmund and have your sister end up dead on your doorsteps or you can give him up but still have little Titania alive."

Juliet bit her lips. "How can you do this to me? I did you no wrong."

Caroline smiled. "It's too bad that you're marrying the one person I've desired all my life."

Shaking her head, Juliet immediately rushed out of the room.

Caroline stared after the disappearing figure and she laughed.

"My fair lady, don't you know? Love is cruel and love kills."

With that, Caroline took a sip of her brandy and stared out of the window.

I will have you Edmund, one way or the other.