elite buzzed around me, their laughter and chatter a dull roar. This was my engagement party to Senator Ethan Prescott, the g

s handsome face, twisted with contempt. Isabella "Izzy" Vance, his mistress, smirking as they orchestrated my ruin. Th

s a pawn. They th

t, or what passed for it now, was a block of ice. My only goal: dismantle them

ed, a ripple of surprise spre

eed to tur

ced swell of her belly. Her eyes, wide and artfully innocent, scanned the room befor

ling but carrying, cut throu

, a hand protectiv

ly am. But I can't keep t

at Ethan, her voice

yours. This b

n looked poleaxed, his charming smile frozen, then crumbling. His eye

roken. Now, I felt a cold, clear calm. This was t

waiter's tray. I straightened my should

y voice even, carr

o me, a desperate, ple

This is... this is

one devoid of heat, on

at Ethan, then out at the sh

my voice ringing with absolute

ctly crafted victimhood faltered for a split second, a flas

eping over them, cold and dismissive,

walked away from the wreckage, every step measured, every beat of my fr