broken prayer beads. He tightened his grip on h

nymore. She simply gathered the last few beads that hadn't rolled away, her movements slow

said, her voice quiet bu

time, he let her go, his eyes watching h

nce called home but had only ever felt like a cold, beautiful prison. The house was dark and silent, a stark contrast to the loud party

at a holographic projector. It was an old, clunky device she had found in a storage room. In her loneliest moments, she would turn it on. It projected a life-sized image of Blake, programmed to sa

device was a symbol of her desperate, one-sided obsession. She wa

ash it against the floor, the

ad followed her home. His eyes landed on the projecto

voice dripping with contempt. "You play with a doll of me

r, just as they always had. But this time, Ch

She had fallen for him so completely that she had tried to change everything about herself. She learned the quiet arts he admired

ded up marrying him instead. It was a scandal, a public humiliation for Amelia, and Blake had never forgiven her for it. He believed she had schemed her way into the

t another one of her pathet

e commanded, stri

d threw it to the ground with all his force. It shattered into a hu

d, his voice low and intense. "Every day with yo

ieces of the projector. The sharp edges of the plastic didn't seem to bother her

ads. Two symbols of her broken heart, her wasted love. Now, they were just junk. She finally f