xis

k-blue shift dress I'd found tucked away in the back of my closet. It was the only presentable thing I owned. Every other piece of clothi

, ill-fitting and out of place. I could feel the eyes on me, flicking from my worn shoes to my plain dress, then q

te made he

Every head turned. Every conversation paused. She was radiant, poised, the very picture of wealth and gr

on that made my stomach churn. His eyes, so often vacant when they looked

Her diamond necklace, a dazzling cascade of stones, glinted under the chandeliers. It was the very necklace Gavin had given me o

bracelet." She gestured to the thin, silver chain on my wrist, a flimsy thing that had come as a freebie fr

d in my head. I' d always thought it was a token of his love, a symbol of our struggles together. N

pe. "Excuse me," I mumbled, my voice flat. "I need some air." I turned a

her heels behind me. She f

rough the quiet. "So, I heard about your little 'accident' at the construction site, Alexis. Must have been tough."

he know about Leo? No one outside our immediate circle knew the details. Gavin and

oice a ragged whisper

ll me you haven't heard. The poor boy. Those dogs... they really did a number on him, d

d into my gut. My breath left me in a rush. I looked down, my vision blurring. Celeste's foot, en

d to the floor, clutching my belly. The pain was blinding, intense. I t

ted to hurt me. She wanted to finish me. I wouldn't give her the satisfaction. My trembling hand fum

but enough. Then I screamed. A raw, piercing sound that ripped through the quiet

w me on the floor, the blood on my hand, the razor beside me. His gaze immediately

o her side. He pulled her into his arms, shielding her.

avin! She had a knife! She tried to hurt me! She's always been so jealous, so unsta

he brutal kick she' d delivered. But the words wouldn't come.

u always do this, Alexis. Always playing the victim, then refusing to explain yourse

air, glinting under the diffused light. It hit my forehead with a sickening thwack. A shar

. "You don't deserve to be here. You don't deserve anything. Celeste, my poor Cele

see the pool of blood slowly spreading beneath me. He didn't see my t

actually attacked her!" "Poor Celeste, always so kind, and that woman... a brute." "She neve

ad throbbed. My abdomen burned. The world began to fade, s