The child's bright voice rang through the ballroom. Everyone who had been laughing at me seconds earlier went dead still.
Sofia's smug smile vanished on the spot. Adrian stared at Nova as she rushed into my arms, his wineglass slipping from his fingers and exploding across the floor.
It took Julian stepping forward with a grim look and taking my injured hand for everyone to finally put two and two together. The woman they had mocked, humiliated, and nearly dragged out of the gala was actually Julian's mysterious wife, the real Mrs. Carter.
Nova clung tightly to my waist. The moment she saw the blood trickling from my palm, her eyes filled with tears. "Mommy, who hurt you?"
She carefully held my hand between hers and blew gently over the cut, her little shoulders trembling with sobs. "D
