a's

r coffee shop on the corner. Dragging my soaked, heavy bags behind m

stared. I ignored them, slumping into a booth in the far c

mbled when the waitress app

to stop them from shaking. Cain's words replayed in my head on a merciless loop

l one, to his face. Calli

rough the fog of pain: Leah. Our mutu

contact. My voice was a raw, croaking thing when I

he line. A heavy, telling silence. "Ela

" My stomac

onight," Leah stammered, her voice low

ge...

crashing against the tabletop before shattering on the floor. Ho

ull throb on my skin that was nothing compared t

rt?" Leah's voice was frantic

"Who is she?" I asked, my voice te

. of the Silvermane family. They're

t Coast did. They were old money, a dynasty of p

from the

t just left me for another woman. He'd traded up. He'd climb

s all a few weeks ago, but he made us swear not to sa

w we

in his arms, he and all our friends were keeping this secret. T

trength to reply. I

e of pity and annoyance. I stared at the brown puddle and the broken sha

names into my phone's search bar: "Ca

ws outlet. The headline screamed at me: *Blackwood and Silve

ing impossibly handsome in a tailored suit, stood beside a stunning blonde woman. Isolde

iance," "consolidating family assets," "pioneers of a new e

tate, on the edge of the

: To

away the shock and the pain. He didn't even have the decency to br

I wouldn't let him

g them on the table. My eyes, once filled with despair, now held a glint of

ng to tha

d, you owe me