A Dream Interrupted, A Life Reclaimed

life that no longer existed. I started packing, methodically, trying to focus on the simple

t. Inside lay my mother's old fountain pen. It wasn't valuable, but it was the pen she had used to si

nse it made my knees weak. I sank to th

in her hospital bed, but with a fire in her eyes. She had b

call. To an old friend at Sterling & Drake. He owes

d told her, trying to hide my

er grip on my hand surprisingly strong. "You have t

re that door opened for me. She died a month later, believing she had secured my

as suffocating. I had not only lost my dream job, but I ha

lsea trample over my mother's memory. They thought they had won, but this was not over. I would figh

red into the empty room.

turned in the lock. The door swung ope

d, his eyes scanning the packed boxes. "You'

voice devoid of emotion. "I thou

ctly styled hair. "Don't be ridiculous. You

epeated, turning my back o

, but you need to see the bigger picture. This move with Chelsea, it's strategic. Her fathe

arm away. "What about my ca

is tone infuriatingly calm. "And you'll be happy as my wife

ambition not as something to be admired, but a

he interruption, went to open it. It was Chelsea. She was hold

id, ignoring me completely. "I brought you

aid, his voice softening. He took the soup

sion. The sight of them together in my apartment, the

a feels terrible about how things went down. The firm made a decision,

incredulous. "I

f. You're not thinking about me, about our future, about the powerful

et. "He's right, Ava. Daniel did this for us

tood there, with the woman who had stolen my future, and called me selfish. He had complete

s a monster. The life I had planned was a fantasy. There w