Mitchel

he devoted fiancé perfectly, his public displays of affection sickeningly convincing. I

consumption. After the initial media frenzy, the Morris family, an old-m

, her eyes raking over me with undisguised contempt, "is hardly the suitable match for

other, Kiara is a strong woman. She has been thro

alculated performance, designed to p

f Charlton's access to the family trust, threatened his position in the corpora

ant lover, willing to sacrifice everything for the woman he "loved." He staged pub

ion, was designed to provoke his family, to make them so despe

ris family's hushed conversations. Charlton's college sweet

s this really about?" I asked him one night, after a particularly

ou know why, Kiara. We're in this together. We su

nstructed lie. I could feel i

ton had left me alone in our sprawling penthouse, claiming he nee

dy. The door was ajar. A low murmur of voices drift

, tugged at me. I crept closer

hey're almost broken." It was a smo

I held my breath,

ess sound. "They will be. They'l

ped. The air

And Kiara? The little socialite? She's serving her purpo

My hands clenched, nails digging

thing. A means to an end. Once they accept our ma

old and clinical. I staggered back from the

d kidnapping. It was a

room. I froze, pressing myself against

oser this time. "And my fa

w by now that you always get what you want, darling? Especi

ather? What was

riage, using that Mitchell girl as a distraction of his own. He thought he c

cold. My fath

ddenly. I gasped,

w me. His face, usually so composed, was momenta

ce losing its fabricated w

, a name that hadn't been spoken in weeks,

re elegance in a silk robe. Her eyes, usually so soft, were

ing with faux sweetness. "What a sur

as a mask again, but the tremor in his hands

my voice raw, broken. "Everything. The kidna

ust stared at me, his

ling. Did you really think someone like Charlton would ever truly be

red to hope, shattered into a million pieces. The humiliation, the terror,

udden, all-consuming rage. My hands balled into

irm, cut through the haze. Do

gentleman. The principled heir. All a facade. He was a m

weetheart. The woman who secretly pulled the stri

Charlton. Well played." My voice was surpris

ing unreadable in their depths. "Kiara

ed with an icy contempt. "I was a pawn. A convenient distraction. A par

led, "Such a

araded me around like some kind of damaged goods, all to get what you want

e. "Kiara, I never meant

d. You made me beg on camera. You used my father's ambition against me. And you stand there

ood. Let him f

"And you. The 'true love.' The 'victim' of the big

ing but a loose woman, a disposable toy for me

rsh, humorless sound. "My place is far away

d. My eyes landed on a priceless Ming vase, sitting on a pedestal n

ring into a thousand pieces, the soun

. "Kiara! What

gaping hole in the canvas. "This is what I'm doing, Charlton!" I screamed, my voice raw with

cattering them like confetti. "You want to dispose of me? Fine. But

harlton rushed forward, grabbing my

"Of course, I'm insane, Charlton! You made me this way! And you k

ng, a flicker of something that l

ked away, I heard Giuliana' s triumphant voice, "Good ridd

ept over them, two figures frozen in their dec

barely a whisper, yet infused with a chilli