ILA

yed in that cold, dark clos

d: "a piece of damaged goods t

ke lightning. They didn't just dr

s "indecent," so I could be easily disposed

from last nig

ce, his absurd marriage proposal, the

licked i

ranger. He was a gigolo

im to ruin my purity, and then package me off to some old ma

t out. Now.

. I couldn't wait for them to officially a

et, checking to make su

to my room like a t

, filled with a girly warmth th

d pulled out the larg

othes, my passport, and the design sketches my moth

e sapphire necklace my mother had given

ly, as if I could d

ed up from freelance design work. It wasn't much

us pair of jeans and a T-shir

se, I took one last look

hment, only a p

back door withou

s completely out of sight before I dared to

miss?" the

d was a blank. W

want to drag the

urfaced in my min

as stupid. But in that moment, the name of the man I had once loved was t

would he remember something? Would he help me? Clinging to that las