ched out with one finger and pressed it against Deidre's collarbone, shoving he

chest, watching the erratic, labored rise and fall. "Tell me, De

losion. The memories were a blur of fire, smoke, and ago

r," Deidre gritted o

g sound that echoed off the high ceilings. Some of the red wi

ro. Everyone thinks I pushed Danial out of the way just before the blast hit. Everyone

nd Danial has spent the last five years treating you li

idre's. "It wasn't me, Deidre. I was terrified. The moment the fire

ears returned, louder this time. She stared

"The person who stayed behind in the fire, the person who shielded Danial with th

, the crushing weight on her chest, waking up in a hospital bed alone-rushed back. She had

broken whisper. "How could y

unbuttoned the top three buttons of her silk blouse. She pul

assive, jagged scar. It looked exactly l

l. "I paid a small fortune to a specialist in Switzerland. He used laser ablation and skin grafts to

chest. She didn't care that she could barely stand. S

ind, slamming her back into the sofa. The bodyguar

life making it up to me. Every time he holds my hand, every time he buys me a gift, it's because he thi

s crying because of the sheer, cosmic injustice of it all. She had given her hear

up and threw it at Deidre's face. The sharp edge of the paper

ial was gifting a sprawling mansion in Beverly Hills to Daria. The note, date

organ fluttering wildly in her chest like a bird trapped in a cage. S

cruel light in her eyes. "No

Deidre and stepped back. Daria walked to the mant

tiny, wrinkled newborn with her eyes closed, cradled in Deidre'

oice was barely human. It was the so

e's skin crawl. "Look at this. A dead little thing. She didn't even live long enough to open her ey

heavy coffee table out of the way, the muscles in he

mantelpiece. She fell to the floor, her elbow landing squar

r sleeve, dripping onto the white rug. But Deidre didn't

umphant smirk. She had Deidre exactly where s

, "you've always blamed God for taking your baby. You've

rs seemed to stop. She looked up at Daria,

I told you it wasn't bad luck at all? What if I

refused to process them. The silence in the room was absol