Emma
Mom's apartment hadn't changed since my childhood. The same worn couch where she'd held me after Dad left. The same kitchen table where we'd planned how to survive after losing everything. The same window where we'd watched our old life crumble, the Sterling Industries takeover destroying our family piece by piece.
"Here." Mom pressed a mug of tea into my trembling hands. My gala dress pooled around my feet like fallen starlight, now seeming more costume than triumph. "You're shaking."
"I'm fine." But the tea sloshed over the rim, betraying my lie.
"Emma." She sat beside me, her presence steady as always. "Talk to me."
"What's there to say?" I laughed, the sound brittle as breaking glass. "I married Dominic Sterling. The man whose family destroyed ours. Who lied to me for months
