a simpl

from a small boutique, h

r most extrava

amonds and disdain, it felt l

ffany and Chad, were li

mments about me being "out of plac

ence and designer silk, "ac

ing to avoid

hampagne fl

the mar

art po

t school application

ttered on the we

iterally ble

shed. No

sabe

Isabelle?" he as

at me, at

e said, his voice curt, dismis

uddle of champagne and broken glass

s, my locke

from

. My grandmother' s. My l

at, feeling the empty s

as lost in the shuffle of expens

non-existent spot on her

er side, a pro

n look at my r

ce, which I knew must ha

raged, who would have c

Vanderbil

d made hi

e pain was a p

o apartment fe

ning, broken only by

ring Leo had given me.

ening, after a shared meal of instan

"but it' s everything I have right no

hen he' d tak

ldn't

pt going to m

lo

ough social media, a habi

here

rrington' s

antly, a familiar silver locket n

loc

rinket. Some things just find the

harp, cut throug

rin

love. Reduced to a "pretty tri

han let it happ

s the f

left of Leo. Not

derbilt' s check, still

llion

dignity. The pri

like blo

o a way out. A

rt supplies, now a painful remin

r band on the sm

it, a sh

gone.

k the

ving New York and Eth

new canvas.

o I

blur of desolate lands

tance between me and the w

l distance? That

elt heavy in my bag, a co

as also

as sprawling,

o meant rejections.

have something to

d again. Pa

bare room. I bou

ney went to that. To s

h brushstroke infused with a ne

ll there, but darke

more frag

r opened. A prestig

singly. My new, raw w

ere I met

ecturer in archi

with a quiet streng

dows in my wor

t push. H

mentor. Th

takingly, love be

ent kind

, desperate

built on respect, on share

Not all the brutal

een hurt. He h

The darkness remained, but i

d it "hauntin

cognition. Small sho

part of me, but it

uele

hile,

note. He fou

uld have discove

t. R

, years later, used when he finally, briefly,

know he'd found

Isabelle, the PI had

ctional. The

er, more ruthl

onal lif

ed looking for

oklyn studio. The gir

ttoo. "S.M." O

t, burnin

of justice

the lives of those who h

friend. Financial ruin

. Social ostracization

otaged parts of th

' s father' s more

"clear the way" for

e. Including, ind

t it was

ssion. Cont

ad driven him to aband

er und