Salina

rs, hot and stinging, poured down my face, blurring the opulent bedroom ar

, flashed in my mind. He had been so insistent, so charming. His parents, old money and cold eyes, had vehemently o

sing a girl with no pedigree. But he had bulldozed through it all, throwing me the most extravagant wedding New York had ever seen.

I had found my protector, my champion. But even then, a tiny, insidious doubt had

our lavish suite, champagne flutes in hand, the city lights twinkling below. The phone

d, his voice clipped.

He didn't

le light seeped into the room, revealing the untouched champagne, the wilting flowers.

sun high in the sky. He was disheveled, reeking of al

e walked over, touching my cheek. It was a hollow gesture. "You

own, look presentable, and not cause trouble. Someone the public adores,

my hope. The anger I felt, the searing pain of betrayal, was doused by a cold, hard

iling serenely at galas while Julian flaunted his mistresses. I became an expert at playing my part,

nother actress. It was Aubrey. My half-sister. The one person I hated wit

r, David Lucas, a man who had always been weak and easily swayed, brought her home. Aubrey G

e living room, her face pale but resolute. "You can choose, David," she

rey, his face a mask of indecision. He spent the entire night pa

balcony, my heart seizing in my chest. My mother. She lay broken on the pavement below, her lifeblood staining the

wing at his arms, desperate to get to my mother. He held me, murmuring comforting words, promi

hings that kept me sane in those dark days. He was my rock, my savior. And now, he was with Aubrey. The woman who

sband, was now with the very person who had taken everything