e city. It was mine, paid for with the first dividend check from my newfound controlling shares

people who had been pushed away during my "lost" three years. The air was filled with light chatter and the clinki

ng didn't

e apartment, and the doors slid open to reveal the

ell over

face. "Chloe! We heard you got a new place and just had to co

hen I heard you were moving out on your own. And this engagement to Ethan Reed... it's all so su

sguised as concern. She was trying t

eet as honey. I gently removed her hand from my arm. "A

lower lip began to tremble. "Ch

like a dark shadow, stepped forward. He placed h

l. His eyes were cold, filled with an accusation that I was

esh wave of cold fury through me. "This is my ho

ed, Liam's father. He was a shark in a tailored suit, with a predatory smile that didn't reach his eyes

med, his voice filling the apartment. "A perfec

hing, the bright lights

y, ignoring me completely. He took her

announced to the room, "but tonight, we are celebrating a future

eal a stunning diamond necklace, a piece so extravagant

n, Liam, has found a wonderful woman in Brittany Hayes. I couldn't be more thrille

y and a proud-looking Liam standing beside her. My father, who had a

ome, in front of my friends, to publicly humiliate me. To show everyone that Liam had

the pitying stares of my friends, the triumphant smirk from Brittany, the cold dismissal from L

have cried. I could have made a

I di

lass. A slow, cold smil

clear and steady, cutting through th

held high, and didn't stop until I was out on the balcony, the cool night a

hey had just handed me the one thing I needed most