ke smoke from a fire that ha

if he could physically hold himself together. Through his fingers, his voice

ast Highway. Multiple vehicle collision. They say-" His throat worked. "-they say he won't wake up. Brai

esperate strength. "No. Absolutely not. We ar

rican project, the mineral rights, the development loans-everything. If they call it due tomorrow, we lose eve

his eyes were red-

ays the engagement was agreed decades ago, when Andres and-" He glanced at Corie, then away. "-and our

ce. She slid from her chair to the floor, her white dress pooli

uine terror now, all performance stripped away. "He's a vegetable. A co

ice was gentle, broke

with desperate accusation. "She's the real daughter! She's

ice cracked like a w

had sustained her. She crawled toward Emilie, reaching for

losing. I have friends here, a life, people who need me. You-" The words slipp

me, her family, her birthright. Who was now begging

tisfaction, no pity. Just the col

s Gil

ding, feverish, speaking in fragments of languages she hadn't recognized. The hands that had gripped her with desperate strength, the mouth that had tas

ighteen. Ter

'd been raised. And nine months later, she'd given birth to twins with eyes the color

s Gil

life and created it in the same breath. Who now lay in a

ie s

her eyes held something that made Corie shrink backward, somethi

e was uncertain. "What-

into the mask of dutiful daughter-slightly over

aused, as if considering. "-tr

With a roar of guttural frustration, he hurled it across the room. It struck the

d absolute, broken only by

rest of the room-her husband, the wreckage, the future colla

a bargaining chip." She turned to Emilie, her hands framing her daughter's face. "We'r

ught her wrists gen

floor. The fake heiress looked up, eyes red and desperate, and Emilie saw

," Emilie said. It

-it's your duty, isn't it? As the r

f I re

to a whisper. "But you-you've never had anything. You

e lau

f place in the devastated room. She reached down, offering Corie a

e to protect. Never had-" She leaned close, her voice dropping to a whisper only Corie could hear. "-a d

d, turning to f

o think. To understand what we're truly facing." She moved toward the door, pausing

footsteps echoing in the silent hall, leaving behind a fam