oe was quick to intervene. She tugged on

s not fight. We cam

"Ava, Mark has prepared a place for you. A beautiful apartmen

wance. Enough to live comfortably. You' ll answer to me, of course. And th

s offering to make me his

It wasn't a happy sound.

can just buy me, Mark? Put me i

ling the sleeping baby mor

You still think money and powe

r, my intention clear.

ed, his patience gone. "You have no

n," I said, my ha

arm, his grip like iron. "You' re not throwing

shirt sleeve was thin. As he yanked me, the sleeve pulled taut, reve

s eyes locked

ed, his grip loosening sligh

st stared back at

use was some kind of tough-love camp, not the pit of violence and desperation it truly was. He thought

he stammered, his mind clearly racing. "I paid

r, Chloe' s soft voi

ned sadness. She gently touched his shoulder, drawing

a girl. They told us she got into fights at the house. That she refu

ed a picture of me as an ungrateful delinquent, bringin

ed by a renewed wave of disgust. He looked at the scar, then at my d

. "Of course. You never could just be humble, could you

m as if touching m

e become someth

sappointed in himself for abandoning me. He was disappointed in m