Ware

. My life, the one I had poured my blood, sweat, and tears into for five years, had been reveale

ance check and disappear? No. They had taken everything from me-my time, my mone

oorbell rang. An hour, Jordan had said. They were early. Of c

was sharp and polished, like a diamond. She wore a simple cream-colored dress that probably cost more than my monthly

nt of something sharp. "I' m Isabell. I' m so sorry you had to find

jeans and faded t-shirt. It wasn' t a look of sympathy. It was a

a faint, condescending smile playing on her lips. "Tru

e living room, her expensive perfume filling the small space

ed out, her voice changing

a smile I hadn' t seen directed at me all day. He scrambled to his f

ied. "Daddy said

level. She cupped his face in her perfectly manicured han

enthusia

rightly colored lollipop from her purse. "How would you like to go to Paris this

went wide.

s hair. It was a gesture of such pract

e that had been running parallel to mine, a life I never knew existed. I wasn't h

second-hand furniture. The sofa I' d found on the curb and reupholstered myself. The coffee table I'

it was j

k. It' s hard to believe the heir to the Fernandez empire lived like this." She turned to one of the la

My life' s

expensive-looking fountain pen. "Ms. Ware. If you would just sign the agreement. The fi

ed, the words tasting like ash in my

-Player in a project of this duration," the lawyer stated flatly, as i

d an industry for this. Fo

"It' s a generous offer. Don' t make this ugly. You' re a smart woman. You know you ca

Leo. "Darling, say

command. The sev

ture of curiosity and impatience. The warm, loving boy

e looked me up and down one last time, his nos

the diner," he

g that surprised them a

aug

und that clawed its way out of my shattered soul. It was t

sks of cool composure finally cracking. They l

e I