Beyond His Reach: The Girl He Cast Aside

into the dining room where I w

s. "Alex was just saying how you used to follow him everywhere. H

comfortable laugh. He glanced at me, a flic

care of herself, mostly," he s

t be hard, learning to be all alone now. But don

that, was instantly erased by Chloe's words, by his easy

wn life, Chloe," I said, my voice tight

expression. Then, she turned to Alex, her

u tie my shoe? This he

licate stiletto. Alex, without a word, knelt and

eet. It was a public display of her dominance, of

ld a life far away from this suffocating ch

me when I was ten, a concert ticket from a show we' d seen, a silly drawing he' d made – I held each

. Clothes, books, my precious sheet music. My scholarship accep

at a quiet, upscale restaurant. He was handsome, in a polished

extending a hand. "Noah

ed, shaking his hand

, call

ation was polite, a

was best. "This is a marriage of convenience. I need to get to New York f

's just say it solves certain... familial expectations for me. A

correct

erstand each other. A nominal a

reement. It was strangely refreshing. He wasn' t Alex. He wasn' t looking a