The office had been the epicenter of the first great humiliation of my life. My engagement to Pascal had been celebrated right in my office; where the big question was popped before proceeding to the mansion. For a month, I had hidden, first in the shattered remains of my old life, then in the terrifying new one Locas had crafted for me. But now, with Becky and Pascal gone, with my parents’ fragile hope resting on my shoulders, and with Pastor James’s command to “resume my life” ringing in my ears, I had no more place to hide. Hiding had cost me my best friend, and let the cancer of Locas’s influence grow.
I had to go get back to work.
Getting ready was a robotic, out-of-body experience. I put on a simple grey sheath dress and low heels armor for a battle I felt too broken to fight. I av
