stant. More than that, I' m her best friend, her confidante. Jess is the daughter of Art

Jess arrange

am Wa

Blackwood Industrie

here' s a frozen river between us. No words, no touch. An unconsummated marriage. I told myself it

ressed prisoner in a gil

pulls her strings, dictates her life, her choices. Her deepest desire is a child, one she can raise on

week, her voice tight with unshed tears. We were in her private

s not the Bl

lackwood way,

s reflecting my own frust

my life. I see him at Blackwood functions, a stoic guardian. At home, he' s a shadow. I' ve concluded he' s either completely uninterested or he' s

gave me a career, a life I couldn' t have imagined. But this marriage, this cold arrangement, it' s a price I' m finding harder to pay. I' m pragmatic

he kitchen gleamed, sterile. Liam' s plate was s

om, the television off

Jess. About her

t about myse

needed t