Chapter
I returned to the Gala room a hollow vessel.
The grand ballroom of the Lunar Gala glittered like a gilded cage.
Crystal chandeliers dripped light onto wolves in tailored suits and gowns worth more than my entire failed marriage.
I stood near the champagne tower, nursing my third glass, trying to numb the memory of my ex-husband's lips on another woman's neck.
Sterile.
Unwanted.
Broken.
The words had been hissed at me for years, but tonight, they coiled around my ribs like barbed wire…slowly bleeding me to death.
It was over.
It was really…really over. There was no false hope to cling to. No memories to cherish, everything had been taken away today by the pool side.
A familiar scent—vanilla and spite—cut through the crowd. My father's daughter - Kaidaira ( the 'real' daughter), glided toward me in a silver gown that matched our father's furious eyes.
Her father.
Not mine. Not really.
