na's

w tha

Harr

mily. Their heir. The one the tabl

end of the hall like

om like a vacuum. Dressed in a tailored black suit that looked like it was stitched from silence itself, he was tall, sh

dared greet him. They only

ons. They are not just wea

y swallowed up international finance and private security, turning old-money families into fossi

nte was their s

blood on his clothes. Another story claimed a judge who tried to stand in his way ended up bankrupt and hiding out in

d locked on mine. No. That couldn't be. He wouldn't recognize me. He hadn't even been there at the trial

ll in my bones

en

AS

king the thin, borrowed dress like acid. I gasped as the freezing liquid slammed into my ch

Not

otest. I grabbed the edge of a nearby table to keep myself uprigh

Selena, why did

oze.

utching her tray, wide-eyed and fake-concerned. She didn't even g

s blam

p, cutting thr

t she's pretending it was my

more attention, "Won't you even do

t. The performance. The deliberate way she

g in my spine told me exac

head. and th

iv

ace, like she'd been waiting for her cue. And this was it. My moment of humiliation. The

close I'd come to dying from untreated pneumonia. She knew the cold made i

lanne

n't an a

were Olivia's show. Just to watch me cough an

rver wanted me

ing sn

ved before

ac

der across the room. The server stumble

le

Eyes widened. Phones were pro

dn't

dress soaked through, my breath shallow

family, or forgiveness, or s

me here to

hat she wanted. But what more could she possibly

g to my damp skin. Just as I exhaled to steady myself,

p th

stakably familiar foot