The maids were busy at work, their hands fluttering around me like frantic birds as they helped me get ready for the party happening downstairs. I sat there, stiff and silent, feeling utterly done with rich people and their endless cycle of celebrations. Tonight’s event was a gala for Eric’s father’s birthday, yet another excuse for the elite to flaunt their wealth while I felt like I was suffocating in silk and lace.
The only thing that rang out in my mind, drowning out the chatter of the maids, was the knowledge that the DNA results would be out in a few hours. My escape from this world was crumbling. All of this—the secrecy, the quiet life I built in the shadows—was being ruined just because I had wanted to support my best friend. Now, I was being dragged back into the light, and I fea
