His jaw was clenched so tight a muscle pulsed in his cheek. The public humiliation was a bitter acid in

Vivienne's ques

, clutching his arm. "I... I just wanted to get along with Vivienne. She's seemed so distant lately, I thought... I got n

ad, silent thing in her chest. She felt nothing.

grained need to be the hero, the protector of the fragile, was activated. T

nne, that's enough. Look what you've done to her. She's terrified. S

kering ember of hope she hadn't even known she was h

d loved, the man she had been willing to sacrifi

corn. She remembered a lifetime of this. Every time Sophia had subtly undermined her, every little lie, every manipula

ou know what, Brant?" she said, her vo

eld high. She pushed through the glass doors leading to the hotel's terrace, desp

is chest. It felt like he was watching something vital

hair across her face and dried the unshed tears in her eyes. It was over. Wha

e from behind her. "Would y

d a handful of ice cubes held loosely in his hand. He nodded toward her right hand. She looked down an

keshift ice pack, the cold a welco

obtrusive. He looked out at the glittering Manhattan s

It was one of respect, of one

r past life, after her death had been ruled an accident, she remembered seeing Julian at the funer

n, her fiancé's uncle

rm, carrying a note of profound relief. "I'm not goin

ome to telling him her secret.

ed up, shrugging off his impeccably tailored suit jacket. He draped it over her shoulders, which were tremb

a ride home

nne n

terrace, he was just in time to see the doors of a black Maybach closing. He saw his uncle, Julia

disappearing into the river of

through his anger and confusion. It was a feeling he had never