t to his wealth and his desire to keep up appearances. He sat by

fireworks that had heralded the start of my nightmare. The memory of

gile calm. He flinched, his eyes darting to the screen, then to m

en, my eyes shut. I didn't want him to kn

o his ear. I heard the soft murmur of his v

e. "Just a business call," he explained, though his eyes w

erile room. I simply nodded, my heart a lead weight in my chest. What else was

ng for the holiday," he said, his lips brushing my forehead in a

, as he left the room. Faster than whe

e, my fingers trembling as I dialed a number I hadn't called in years. The voice on the other end w

ight. The promise, like a

f-sister, draped against him, her head on his shoulder, a triumphant smile on

I'd find out she' d received a custom diamond pendant, something unique and breathtakingly

trom. Pain, fury, despai

thing else. Our lives had been intertwined since my father left my mother for her mother. My mothe

inning of my personal hell. He used to adore me, but when she and her mother arriv

me of my mother's "failure," ridiculed my poverty, and chipped away at my s

m in, they became bolder, more vicious. They spread rumors, twisted i

a kind man from a good family. We fell in love, got

sault, the public humiliation. He broke off

t in shining armor. Or so I thought. I believed him when he said he loved me, w

f-sister, I knew the truth. He wasn't my savior. He was the one who had truly orchest