father' s simmering fury. My stepmother, Eleanor, Hailey' s mother, looked at me as if I were something she

r, Mr. Covington, finall

self as a man driven by desperate love for me, forced into a secret marriage by circumstance

eing saved from Thorne appealed to his desperate need to see he

ll support this. You will say you and Ethan married weeks ago. This Thor

ine. "Yes, Ava, dear. Think of your

ed me strong when they w

e the re

storation of your grandmother' s botanical illustrations. It requires co

untainted thing left from our family' s pas

as now examining her nails, bored with the drama now that the focus wasn't solel

ose in me, sh

r pawn. I would not

ce clear and steady

ad snapped

ntinued, meeting my father' s gaze, "and you nee

asp. Hailey lo

idiculous!" my f

to save Hailey from a supposed monster. Fine. Send me. I' d ra

she might faint. "Bu

at Ethan. "Or was that jus

linc

ispering promises he clearly didn' t mean. My father spoke of duty, of family, of the shame I wo

to send a Covington, it would be me. The one they consi

ght of living the life Ethan had planned for me, a lif