everything was lavishly dec

st Louis Vuitton collection, held court among a

s gorgeous! It looks l

I couldn't even get on the waitlist to rent i

ffered you a role. You're definitely going to be the hotte

die is just doing it for fun. She'

n gleaming in her eyes, Shan

me for a second. I need to go

sion, she nearly collided wi

ck? It's my twentieth birthday today, and the last thing I need is peopl

news is good news. Don't worry, she isn't coming back. And even if she tried to, those traffickers su

ountry girl would show up, just so she could flaunt the massive gap b

eeper rushed into th

st landed on the lawn-and it be

s lighting up. "Mom, do you think Dad actu

e country's elite, but the Nightshires existed in a stratospher

heir to the empire, wasn't someo

w business partnership, Cindy tho

all mirror while Shandie did the same. "If we can secure a real connect

he lawn, where a crowd of curious, buzzing guests h

got the Nightshires t

ve hired a professional glam squad

ectly polite smile, thoug

What good would makeu

t hosted by the Nightshires last month, she h

. Nightshire, she thought, pract

Every eye turned toward the aircraft, and a hus

ed suit, it was a young woman in tattere

nd grime that her features were barely visible. Her tangled hair hung

t th

instantly darted

ed her were already hiding

guest, Shandie?

rward. "Who are you? Who do you think you are,

ly, her eyes narrowing slightly as she realiz

ielle knew the ugly truth. The private investigator she'd hired had la

ghter was dead or alive, yet here he was, t

k tugged at the corn

asked, locking eyes with the fu

your f

ha

lted her head, her smile turning icy. "I

the crowd as the guests exchanged wide-eyed glanc

e color drained from Shandie's face as s

ilthy rags and matted hair, she

re seasoned in the art of saving face, as

r child, I've been waiting for this da

humorless smile. "Hello, Au

lite, her tone dripped w

He married his own sister-in-law? What a sick

mong the guest

s. Southall used to be the f

Moore, the one who was kidnappe

. Henrick actually married into their wealth. After Mauree

? That's m

s, Cindy felt a hot flush of

hroat, forcing a maternal

s get you inside and washed up. Look at you, you're covered in gri

hardened into a

knew she had been living in t

e back, a deep, resonant voice drif

ey

d on the lawn snappe

ng down from the cabin, a suffocating,

inson Ni

through the global economy wi

wide with adoration. "Did you really come al

hed a deep, fev

t with a gift, but seeing him here in the fles

thought, digging her nails into her pa

an adopted daughter, if Vinson Nightshire was showing this k

econd l

wed, his expression a mix of genui

if he had never seen h

ain themselves, letting ou

r her birthday, but he do

ng! If that were me, I'd d

ic joy to blank shock, and finally to burning humiliation. Whipping h

of social warfare, was

daughter, plastering on a

t just so happens to be my daughter's birthday, so she foolishly assumed you were here for the par

s in the crowd va

one's property, even for a brief business meetin

nse shattered the i

are? Do I

gesture froze awkw

't even know

ically biting their tongues off t

utting on a better comedy act

ave of shame was

he didn't know Shandie...

rrifying reali

Arielle that everyone had ju

had just climbed out

d only watch as Vinson brushed past her without