/1/120593/coverbig.jpg?v=a9bd5488ac1830ebc2784ab1068d6565&imageMogr2/format/webp)
e back
hrough the pounding in Chloe Miller's head. She flinc
porcelain teacup held delicately in her perfectly manicured fingers. She smiled, but it did
ck of time." The lie felt thick and clumsy on her tongue. Her
Frances took a slow, deliberate sip of her tea. "S
skin, a desperate attempt to hide the evidence of a night she couldn't fully remember. A h
nst her ribs, a frantic
e empty space on the velvet sofa beside her
ough cement. The air in the room was heavy with the scent of lilies and unspok
th manufactured concern. "He called and called. He's had to fly t
ounting on seeing him, on confessing, on begging for hi
eacup down with a soft click. She leaned forward, her expensive perfum
g fingers were on her neck. With a swift, sharp
he room seem
k, angry-red mark. A kiss. A bite. A brand of her betrayal,
ask dissolved, revealing a face contorted with cold,
t; it ceased to function entirely for a terrifyi
something filthy. She rose to her f
are," she hissed, her
of elegant, cream-colored cards lay. The wedding invitat
e looked at Chloe, a crue
to tear it in half. The sound of ripping ca
nother. An
d to the floor, landing around Chlo
ded invitation. "I told him you were nothing but a cheap little social c
ce trembling. "It wasn't... I
a fool? You walk in here at dawn, reeking of a stranger's cologne, with
scraps toward Chloe. "You have broug
ame phrase her grandmother had used for years, a curse branded onto her
The long-held belief, the one she fought against every da
the desk and pressed a button. "Alf
of professional neutrality, but Chloe saw a flick
ffective immediately," Frances announced, her voice ringing with authority. "Pleas
to Chloe, a final, dism
miliation, hot and acidic, rose in her throat, choking her. She w
umsy and uncoordinated. She staggered to her
wist of the knife. "He's been instructed not to take your call
ctly executed ambush.
ed her, sharp and clear. "And Alfred, make sure none of her cheap t
into a near run, desperate to escape the suffocating
pulled one open. The cold morning air
n't bear to see the look of vic
ith a heavy, final thud. It was th
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