Framed By Family, Reborn By Love

PARKE

e spot, his face a mask of horrified disbelief. His hand, still clutching my arm, felt like a cold brand. He was holding a single, wilted red rose, a pathetic

o something uglier, something

tight with barely contained fury. "You're supp

, then, to find me breathing." I pulled my arm from his grasp, the action sharp and deli

re you talking about? We were devastated. Uncle

, my voice flat. "Heartbroken enough to engrave this stone with lies.

s right at the time. Uncle Benson was shattered. The company was in

d otherwise." My mind flashed back to the last time I saw him, five years ago. Not here, not in a cem

m the hospital bed. "Kolby, please, I need your help. They're

ing about "damage control" an

rough the damp air like a razor. "The one where you told me to 'just disappear' for a

e, Jillian. You have no idea what it was like. Caitlyn was pregnant. We we

in my mouth. "A crisis that was deliberately orches

n't even answer my calls. He's my family. He raised me. T

can't, Jillian. It's too much. And honestly, your timing is terrible. C

bed, barely clinging to life, framed for a crime I didn't commit

ow against his composure. "'You're dead to us.' Don't you remember saying that? When I calle

looked me up and down, his eyes widening again, taking in my expensive coat, my perfectly styled hair, the subtle confidence that now radiated from me. "But look at you.

lease. You flatter yourself. My life now is so far beyond anything you could conceive. I'm happy.

lled to see you. We could... we could talk. Make amends." He took a step closer, a desperate, calculating glint in his eyes. "We could

n Henry. She died here, five years ago, by your hand. I am Elia Parker. And I am

started to walk away, my heels

as a desperate rasp. "You ca

t bothering to turn back. "You wouldn't

ng. The cold wind bit at my cheeks, but i