years

isco, Cal

led out to her ten-year-old daughter. "It takes you hours to put on

bedroom, huffing. She w

dad. My best friend, Hope Knight, has a real family. Her dad al

a familiar, sharp pang in her chest. It broke

born? How could she tell her that she was naive enough to

ot of work. He lives in Europe, and he can't ju

t her, her gree

classmates say he doesn't exist, or that he jus

ing out to hug her, but Ava yanked away, sprinting back

d even taken Ava to a child psychologist, but nothing see

esperate to put as much distance as possible between herself and the man who had fed her nothing but lies. Discovering

rp mind and relentless drive, she had clawed her way up. She had started as a retail worker in a clothing store while taking online university courses. She refused to giv

compose herself, Vanessa walke

see Hope today. You'll miss out on playing wi

they shared everything, and they hated being apart even fo

was Hope's only real friend, since the gi

*

ter, at

l's office," a teacher annou

el student-Ava often joked that she was the teachers' favorite becau

ipal call her? Ava

frightened green

ne anything wrong

n support. She half-stood, ready to accompany her, but a s

hewing her lip. "I'm getting nervous just thinki

shoulder until she stepped out into the hall. She made her way down the gleaming corridors to the principal's

the older woma

ed her great-grandmother's eyes were red and gla

who dared to cross her. Seeing her look so devastated felt wrong. Hope watch

" Hope asked, her sm

has occurred," Rose said, her

imper. "They have been

ly welled in

parents!" she crie

d and pulled the gi

ur parents... they're gone,

heart hammering against her ribs. She didn't know where she was going, only that she had to

d sprinting blindly down the corridor.

and her great-grandmother called her name from down the hall. The sheer weight of th

ping to her knees and burs

nurse's office. Ava clung to them, refusing to leave her friend's side. Seeing t

uttered her eyes ope

wn her pale cheeks. "I don't have my parents anymore. They're gone fore

er arms around Hope, holding her tight, and t

t now, the only person she trusted in the world was Ava, the one f

*

d, Sp

aradise

into the pockets of his tailored navy-blue suit. His sharp gaze swept over the sprawli

entirely without his family's help. He had forged his own empire, designing and construc

flight to Berlin," his assistant an

clipped, his expression as unreadabl

d for the meeting. The Spanish in

y we

the corner, but one cover in particular caught his eye. It featured a phot

feelings toward the Knights were complicated, which

er, Roger, and announced she was pregnant. The humiliation had been suffocating. On the day of the wedding,

rother, the legitimate heir. Heartbroken and bitter, he had sworn off the family business e

er occasionally, mostly when his brother bragged about profit margins, though Ryan

kimmed the article. His eyes lingered on a photograph of an attractive woma

, had spearheaded a new sales strategy, overseeing the acquisi

hair and delicate features. Her light green eyes held a gaze that was striking- sharp

iliar, though he cou

sweat," he murmured, a smirk playing on his

shattering the quiet of the off

or drained from his face. He reached up, yanking at t

be there today," he said hoarse

ant asked, stepping back into the

. "Cancel the flight to Germany. Have the jet pre

d quickly and slipp

d to the empty room, draggi

black suit. His expression was stone-cold as he stared at the two polished caskets resting i

who was holding a little girl in her arms. It wasn't hard to gue

ng," he sai

th dark bags beneath them. She looked frail, having aged a

it to be me in that box," Ryan th

managed, clear

e gestured to the little girl w

er great-grandmother's chest, but Rose-using that same iron-clad ton

he stood up straight, obeying Rose's silent command, and lifted he

ression unreadable as a ghost fr

ked exactly