ra

, and poured me into a gown of emerald silk. I was no longer a person. I was a prop, cast in my r

e. He took my arm, his touch making my skin crawl, and led me into the grand ballroom. We wer

a diamond watch around my wrist. It was gaudy, ostentatious, a style I despised. It

appened. A small body collided with my legs. I

, his small face contorting in a practiced show o

s voice high and piercing. "You're the

hundred pairs of eyes turned to me. Whispers erupted, sweeping through the room like wildf

r face a mask of feigned concern. "Oh, Le

gling from it was a small, braided leat

ll hum, my entire world narrowing to t

niversary. A symbol of our bond. A piece of his soul he swore

tary tremor running through it.

ce was a roar, a raw, protective so

meant to drive me away from his son. I stumbled backw

inst the corner of a glass tabl

asn't the

y ripped through my a

spreading across the e

husband, turning his back on me, rushing away with Hayden and