ightened at

iosity vanished, replace

aguely at the counter, then turned an

, its crispness an insult. She folded

from Liam's bedroo

arah's voice, mo

ted a knife in Maya's me

n-drenched Phoenix days, when their love fel

aponizing their intimacy, t

t the other end of the penthouse. It felt m

arrow bed, stari

breathed with the desert, not against it. She remembered the specific curve of

, hot and silent,

ardened. She would endure. She would find her moment.

g, Sarah Chen w

her women never

g look as she served Sarah breakfast on the veranda, treating her like

usehold, already ambigu

threw a lavish part

a new Veridian Structures deal

loyalty. He presented her with a diamond tennis

o wear – "like the staff" – moved through the crowd, refilling

ou know. The one he

aunting that PR woma

but Maya kept her

the French doors le

" Sarah's voice was

to talk about, Sarah. You do

"I've loved Liam for years. Since college. You had him, and you thre

t. He barely ate, barely slept. Veridi

. She'd lived it from afar, po

voice gaining strength. "I helped him rebuil

of si

r, her voice dropping to

to save his life... I was the one who was a match. I was the one who donated. He doesn't know

his suffering she hadn't known, a secret Sarah had weaponized. Her own hazy memories of a hos

n her lips. "He's mine now, Maya. He owe

n. My birthday is next week. And I want Liam. That'

h, at the desperate

ya nodded slowly. "Alri

ened, but it didn

sharp. "You need to make sure he completely for

er arm, her eyes wide with a strange, theatrical pain. Then, with a sudden, violent movem

ck echoed in th