g gown, ignoring the cold draft against her skin. She didn't look back as she

onths

mily mansion on the Upper Eas

iving room. Her fingers were clamped tightl

he head of the room. Her face was a mask of pure fury. Gerda grabbed a stack

across the hardwood floor. The front pages all featured the sa

o this family!" Gerda roared, her

g the lump in her throat. "Grandmot

diately placed the cup down and pressed a hand to her chest, looking deeply wou

, you are a sinner, Angelena. You are unclean. I am officially stripp

aised her. Her chest tightened so painfully she could barely br

awyer standing in the corner. The lawyer stepped f

Gerda ordered coldly. "And get o

ce staring back at her was cold, calculat

t a second of hesitation, she slashed her signature across the bottom line. She threw the p

months

n deep in the mountains of Colorado. The wind howled, shaking th

soaked through her sweatpants. Her water had broken. A blinding, tearin

a kerosene lamp. Her hands shook as she prepared a

c until her knuckles turned stark white. She pushed with ever

a baby pierced through the

aw it was a boy. A strange, calculating look flashed across the mid

ly black. She was losing too much blood. Driven entirely by the p

ond boy. Then a gir

heavy eyelids open. She wanted to see her babies. But the blood loss wa

rabbed the two baby boys. She stuffed them into a heavy, insulated carrying basket

g wind. A mysterious figure dressed entire

ags a thick stack of

he basket containing the two boys into The Contact's arms. Without

hit her skin. She struggled to prop herself up on her el

picked up the two baby girls and placed them gently against Angelena's che

ies. Hot tears streamed down her face, mixing with the sweat on her

ding her nervous twitch. "I need to go as s

against her skin. She rested her chin on their heads. She silently swore

days

y weak. She had her two daughters strapped to her chest in a makeshift carrier. She

session, a relic she had secretly hidden away in the floorboards of her room long before the family completely turned their backs on her. She ran her thumb over the worn co

would return to New York. She would return with power,

years

t, New York. The arrival terminal wa

s corridor. Angelena, dressed in a sharp, tailored white suit, pulled off her designer

daughters, looked like exquisite porcelain dolls. They wore matching neutral-to