test results seared into her mind. The room was silent, the wor

th from her body. Then, a strange calm replaced her panic. It was t

egnancy tests, wrapped them in thick wads of tissue paper, and buried them at the bot

poured herself a glass of wate

terminate the pregnancy and walk away with her freedom intact. O

her other hand seemed to move of its own accord, coming to rest gently on her still-flat ab

arents were ghosts in two faded photographs. This child-this poppy-seed-s

oice w

decision. To forge it in

t the city without a word. She drove for hours, heading north, the s

te New York, nestled among rolling hills and ancie

Family

names of ancestors she had never met, until she

eanor Oliver.

. It was a shield against a past too dangerous to

the silent company of the departed, she finally allowed herself to shatter. Hot tears spilled silently-for five ye

She told them she was going to be a mother. She told them she would

ake back everything they stole from our family. I swear it, I will." She thought of her true name-a name she had

. The soft, malleable shell of Jodi Holden cracked and fell away, revealing the stee

eft the cemetery, her posture st

purred to a stop in front of Tayl

k's smile stepped out. She wore a Chanel sui

tt," she said to the receptionist. "I h

den for months. She knew her routines, her preferences, her dislikes. She knew all her weaknesses. She was

floor. Grant Fletcher was waiting for her,

s way, please. Jodi Holden will be b

cement ha

cret and a vow, was on