TER
EXA
arity board meeting, and by the time we arrived at the ho
ed when I entered her private r
a behind me, and h
leanor w
on didn't change.
h other?" I asked, l
hly. But Eleanor was staring
ndmother said. "You're suppos
finished. "I wa
eping faster. A nurse rushed
. Mrs. Sterli
bbed Sophia's arm. "W
ecognizes me from t
s impo
a pulled free. "She remembers. Which means she
my own c
her voice was sharp. "When she told you I was beneath your family, you believed her.
sick. "I need t
tell you
'll mak
nurse tried to protest, but one
re closed, but I
o to Sophia?" I
what you're
pposed to be dead.' So tell me what happ
ld. "If you're having dreams
pieces. Sophia in a hospital. You saying terrible things at dinner. Her face wh
or's voice was matter-of-fact. "She was wea
e it, or made
ow. You haven't married her. T
ward. "Why do you remember? Why do
ly. "Some mistakes echo across
did yo
way. "Get ou
il you t
id ge
rushed back in with a doctor this time, an
e wall, arms crossed. "Did sh
ated me. Made me think yo
u belie
h my hair. "I need to know everything. Ev
pologize for thing
o I was. Who I might be
a long moment. "You
es
he started walking towa
d of place Eleanor would have been horrified to see me
," I
e first, making me wa
aised on fairy tales could want. You pursued me for three months before asking
as
hollow. "Turns out what you wanted was my mother's
Victo
erything I wasn't allowed to be. You said it was platonic. Maybe i
twist in my chest
isn't the right word. Satisfied, maybe. Like I'd fulfilled a contract requirement. But when I miscarr
s Chr
. You came home that night and asked if I was okay. I said yes because I didn't know how to say no to
sor
you didn't do. It makes you f
do you wa
Absolutely
one. Victoria: "Where are yo
lenc
ophia said. "Your
. I'm not done
not here to absolve you or help you become a better
can
y n
more present than I had in months. Because the broken woman in my dreams was nothi
I'm supposed to s
nd bitter. "I already s
rove you won't
orward. "You can't prove a negative, Alexander. You can't prove you won't become
nor? With Victoria? With ever
me him anyway? What if it's not th
cal blow. "You really thin
o. Who's never had to choose between what you want an
ha
her. Wher
trip. Sing
r collapsed. Rushed back from a meeting." Sophia's
h the Zhao Group. High-sta
y launder money for triads. You
you kn
ng Hotels for three years before he finally confessed. It destroyed him
It went to
ather's security team on the lin
this is
trust me
certainty in her eyes. A
ather out of the Zhao Group meeting. I d
al is worth f
care. Get
already standing, thro
are you
ve fast. The people he's meeting with don't like b
ou know a
for the first time, I saw r
nder. When he tried to back out of the deal, they sent a message. T
ran col
like an accident." Sophia's voice wa
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