" I said, my voice

father, who collapsed onto the carpet, breathing heavily. My mother rushed to his side, helping him back

and I thought, poor. He had nothing but a fierce ambition that I found intoxicating. We built a life from scratch, or so I believed. We shared a

orpse on the floo

his voice low and

k. He reached out and grabbed my arm, his fi

ouch me,

ke demands anymore, Olivia. You lost tha

mine. I could smell the expensive cologne he wo

enunciated each wor

ling hands. I had done this to them. My stupid, reckless gamble ha

ords tasting like ash in my mouth. "At

s quickly as it appeared, replaced by that chilling

over his shoulder at me, and his eyes were filled with

smirk playing on his lips. "You thought hiding her would

ed out, closing the door behind them, leaving u

ight, the bankruptcy, the humiliation. It was his words. You're pathetic. You're weak. He didn't see love or despe

He had traced the line of my jaw with his finger. "I love you, Liv," he'd whispered. "You're the o

ust another lie, anoth

n marriage. They were tears of grief for the twelve years I had wasted, for the woman I had a

his voice raspy. "You n

t his tired, defeated

reckage of my life, a new feeling was taking root.

never, ever let him hurt my family again. The woman who loved Daniel Miller was