From Heiress to Hellbent

rlotte. The pain was still there, a dull ache in her bones and a

o the emergency room, had her hand set in a cast, and got her

home and bega

hoto of them was taken down, the glass smashed, the images torn to shreds. Every gift he' d ever

it went. She worked with a methodical fury, a grim satisfaction growing with every item she discarded. By daw

th another one of her "episodes." He walked in and sto

" he demanded, his voic

alm. She was sitting on the couch, sipping

he scoffed. "I told you I'd handle Kal

not looking at him. "I'm just getting

another desperate gambit to get his attention. He was so used to her

arlotte. I don't care if you throw

n her lips. Now that the love was gone, she felt a strange

ted, a

to this engagemen

ng a dismissive hand. "Our families

t's all she had ever been to him. The realization didn'

e words forming on her ton

could speak,

instantly softened. The change was so abrupt, so comp

e, his voice a low, gentle caress.

s back to Charlotte. "Don't

ox on the mantelpiece. He opened it and took out a pearl necklace. It

for Kalia's neckl

d of doubt vanished. It wa

lowed by a single, silent tear that

s one of the biggest events on the New York social calendar. She chose a s

as there, and Kalia was clinging to his arm, looking radiant in a

but she forced it down. It was just a ref

usted her shawl when she shivered, and laughed at her jokes

ed her as she moved

oesn't even try to

. Everyone knows he's just us

id she had a complete breakdown last week. I give

he past, they would have cut her to the bone. Tonig

ought, a cold resolve hardening w

would sever all ties. She would ma

pped out onto one of the grand bal

n behind her. "Still have the nerve t

as K

pillow," Kalia sneered, stepping closer. "But

" Kalia continued, her voice a vicious whisper. "He t

o face her, her ex

was my name before I met Bryant, and it will be my name long after he's

oser, her eyes loc

rvive without a host. He will never marry you. You will never have a title, ne

low, cold curvi

ich one of us is