KATE
I still couldn’t believe what I heard.
Boarding school?
For Aria?
Over my dead body.
I paced the floor, arms crossed, heart thudding painfully against my ribs. I stared at Alex, the man I once thought had changed—grown—healed. But no… He was back to square one. Cold. Rigid. Stuck in his own warped idea of logic.
I shook my head slowly, tears welling behind my lashes.
“Alex,” I breathed, my voice trembling with a pain I couldn’t disguise, “why can’t you just believe me? Why can’t you believe her? Aria’s been raised in front of your eyes… in this very house. You know her better than Max or any of those judgmental bastards. You know she couldn’t hurt Emma. Our girls love each other. Neither of them could ever… would ever…” My voice cracked.
But Alex… he didn’t flinch. His jaw cle
