uined gown, slicing through the haze of champagne and adrenaline. The thin silk offered nothing. Humil

heir glare. She threw up a hand to

ecency." The voice cut through the night, cold as ice

s frozen fury. Her eyes crawled over Kayden's wrinkled dress, her sme

I-" Kayde

woman cu

Their laughter died as they took in

y! Flaunting yourself like common trash. You've broug

, her face burning, her lips trembling too hard to form

it, desperate for anything to focus on. The scre

r voice a hoarse

t's your father. I just got a call from the prison

went cold. "Wha

m-security facility upstate. And Kayden... they've

ding her together snapped. Her father

run, stumbling toward the main road. She flagged down a

lady?" the

ried a former business associate. He picked up, but his voice was cool, distant, full of vague excuses. The messag

ment building. She paid with tr

on the living room sofa, staring at the dark TV. Irina

whispered, wringing her hands.

a. "Mom?" she said softly. "Mom, it

dness, now burned with a wild, terrifying energy. She launched h

en's hair, yanking hard. "You're a curse! None of

ay, but her mother's grip was iron. Susan's fists beat ag

oice raw with years of resentment. "If Megan were my daug

blow. Irina rushed forward, struggling to separate

pared to the wound those words had opened. She looked at her mother, now sobbing in the caregive

ic shaming. Her father in danger. Her own mother's vio

gan to form. They could take her dignity, her future, her family's love. But they wouldn