ually rememb

mascara running down my face like some kind of disaster, and th

alley smelled like old grease and cilantro. That was the moment it f

in here at seventeen, right when the child-star hype died and the tablo

ed piling up faster than I could handle. Whenever my life fell apart, I'd just tuck m

n't just hiding. I

down the wall, landing right in a puddle of something that smelled l

Christ,

chef's whites, a knife in one hand and a cigarette hanging

our annual meltdown doesn

at came out was another sob,

d hauled me up by my armpits like I weighed nothi

ugh the steaming kitchen. They'd seen fallen stars before

ap tequila into a chipped mug that said WORLD'S

. Then

ed my throat. I

irt this morning. The penthouse. The table. The way he just kept

etending to be a CEO since he was twenty-five, and he call

e you still outshone them. Zayden didn't fall in love that night, mija. He saw a sad, beautiful girl he could rebrand. He turned Sunny Sant

ws where I was crying, the images of a broken daughter taking care of

ow. "He didn't save you, Rina.

ugh escaped

"Auto-erotic asphyxiation gone wrong. Tra

es," I w

r grin turned wolfish. "Remind the world who you w

the desk. Unknown

ounded like old money. "Dexter Simmons. H

s eyebro

lier work. The real you. 'Saint Erina Saves the Day'-teaching broke kids how to make gourmet grilled c

opped. Mariso

atform. A nightly live show. No delay, no ce