rning

es, the acrid taste of smoke-i

ve of cold ai

t breathing smoke. She was breathing expensive perfume-Chan

ened h

e. Her hands were gripping the edge of a

framed mirror st

n was unblemished, glowing with youth. Her collarbones were sharp, her arms slender but not gaunt. She touched he

ce. A chance she hadn't asked for, but one she would wield like a weapon. The grief was still there, a cold, har

ked down at the clutch purse rest

iPhone, but an older model.

glared at her: Octobe

dt Chari

urning and acidic. She bent over the sink and d

he night she was accused of drugging Darius Brandt to force him into mar

a string quartet playing Vivaldi. She heard the click-clack of heels

tonight," a voice said. "If I can

water onto her face, desperate to wake up from this twisted nightmare. Bu

in. The fear in her eyes began to harde

this night crying in a stall. She had begged Dari

this

o wear to look innocent and submissive. She found a tube of lipstick-a

th steady hands. The red slashed

ngth beige gown, chosen by her mother to make her look

She found the seam near the thigh.

ii

eating a slit that went halfway up her thigh. S

ling her lungs with the sce

open the re

mouth of a beast. Crystal chandeliers dripped light onto the crowd of Manhattan's elite. Her eyes swept over the d

them imm

entrance, clutching a champagne flute, laughing

oman was Il

te. She was smiling that sweet, venomous s

nted to walk over there and wrap her hands around Ilene's th

e forced the corners of her red lips up

s clicked against the floor, a steady,

nd took a glass without breaking her stride. She downed the conten

elled. The c

ell over

randt ha

unger than she remembered. His face was smoother, less lined by the custody battles

looking for something

empty glass. She watched the man she had loved, the man w

t flutter. It t

e thought. And this t