"If I didn't have to, I wouldn't have tried to sell the necklace."
Elena bit down on her lower lip, her voice barely above a whisper now.
Showing weakness wasn't her style, and baring her vulnerability like this felt like stripping away her pride, piece by piece.
But Nathaniel barely reacted. He shrugged her off, pulling the car door open without so much as a second glance.
"It's my father," she blurted out, desperation lacing her words. "He's blackmailing me, using Lily's illness. He wants a million dollars."
Saying it out loud nearly broke her. It was a burden she hadn't wanted to admit, let alone share with someone who seemed so far removed from her reality.
Nathaniel's hand froze on the door handle, but the look in his eyes was far from softened. In fact, his gaze only grew colde
