Elise
flashes before your
y l
e-warm, thick, and pooli
outh. The footsteps that walked away, not towarYou always w
ce called family. The girl I would have died
who had promised to love me in sickness and i
was the last
ter that-darkness
I opened m
in my ol
rivate hospital where I had spent my final moments
nded by pink wallpaper and that damn porcel
ht I was in some
I saw the
years
Whole.
well Corp wasn't even on the table yet. Liam hadn't proposed. Ti
s al
as
sn't going to die c
dentally" pushed me into the fireplace poker during a family Christmas. But there was nothing. Smooth, unblemishe
n stared back, younger and more fragile than I
No more trusting smil
ed the
erything back,
c. Like a chess game-and I had five years
't accept Lia
-Carter merger before Tiffan
e Adrian Blackwel
acks, his weaknesses. I had watched him destroy my family from afar while pr
he devil to light
rls and a scent of expensive regret. Her eyes lit up when she saw me-like they always did. Befor
tment at Atelier Row for the engagement d
lready? It w
said flatly, butter
you mean? Liam's been planning this f
ut he certainly
er this time. "Tell Tiffany to wear the
he her. I had coddled everyone too long in
ed Lia
babe! I
re d
le
t are you talking about? I'v
ou're at it, tell Tiffany I hope she chokes
being ir
. I'm bei
I lowered the phone, not with fear-but exhilaration. It f
e down.
or the
h mogul. Heartbreaker. At least, that's what the tabloids called him. But I knew b
ho ever looked through
made him
him? They fel
back to seduce Adrian during the merger. I adjusted the neckline, tied my hair in a low knot
him to it
ies," I told the d
ermination as the car p
er Elise Cart
n he would nev
this
to ruin the