O'DONN

days on the phone with her, talking her down, while I waited, dresses already packed for our honeymoon. His father, Cletus, had clapped me on th

gies and promises. "It won't happen again

him. Like I

al dinner, had joked, "Maybe you should just marry them both, Justice! Save

red of hoping. Tired of being the consolation pr

d, my voice clear and steady, cu

champagne. Justice's mother gasped, clutching h

"let's not be hasty. Emotions are runni

interrupted, my voice flat. "The

is merger, this alliance... it's too important!" His eyes, usua

"Living a life where I'm not constantly humiliated? Where my worth

nsisted I wear. A Keith family heirloom, passed down through generations.

dare," Cletus hiss

in my trembling hand. Then, with a sudden, decisive m

apel. Diamonds, pearls, and gold fragments scattered across the marble f

ness, a sense of liberation. I turned, my ruined go

tears, mascara running down my cheeks, but there was a new glint in my eyes. A sharpness. A r

e rang.

erverse curiosity, a need for f

sorry, love. You know how she gets." His voice was muffled, and

how she gets, Justice. And it seems she's

it up to you. I promise. Just come

The shattered pieces of my dignity? The r

voice suddenly urgent. "Is the

instinctively caressing my still-fla

e back? We need to talk. Thi

g, cold and precise. "Is Kamala enj

ou... are you jealous, Clara?

ung

for my purse. I pulled out my passport

creet card from a prestigious medical clinic. The