RY

fusal, a true and ter

was a pittance. I even went to shady underground loan shark

more frequent, the nurse's tone s

d my eyes, I saw Hannah's pale, tire

of breaking when

doptive Mother. The words felt lik

ome last shred of desperatio

t was smooth, coated in a layer of

d not

as if I hadn't been silent. "Your father and I

the hope like a drowning woman grabbing a pi

n help you, yes. But

knew it. "What condition

r sister, Sienna, is... unwell. She can't fulfill her marriage contra

ouldn't believe what I was hearing. "What?

d anyway. What's the difference who you marry? Rhys Knight might have a bad r

e knew the rumors about Rhys Knight. He was a disfigured, violent out

und. "Set for life? Fiona, a

you. You have two choices. One, you take Sienna's place, and we pay for all of Hannah's

dagger, each one aimed a

s turning white. I could picture her smug, t

igned just for me, waiting for me to

ruelty, their casual disregar

r back through two miles of freezing snow to the emergency room. When the Pierces locked me in the dark basement for breaking a vase, it was Hannah who snuck me bread through the crack under the

I had ever known. The only wa

dn't l

rd my own voice, trembling and distant.

nd businesslike. "Of course. The moment you agre

ine. Our lawyer will have everything prepared. The second you sign

eeling all the stre

dy broken. All of it was worthless in

the word scraping my

in