BOUND BY HIS TERMS

Hart'

Her warning screamed louder with each second I hesitated. My fingers curled around the envelope again

that looks like love. Do

the back of my sketchbook, and stood. I nee

, leaving me in silence that stretched like skin over bone. I took the elevator down, skippin

darkness clawing inside me. I kept my head down and moved fast until I reach

, but I only nodded. In the corner, Eva looked up from her l

. Sit

I slid into the booth and sho

words, and then her eyes locked wi

st sitting there.

She went completely off-grid before she died. Rumors say she checked int

d she wri

ter behind the suit. Lila, if you are in someth

"I signed away my name, my com

ed. Not if you sti

me for years. He knew my sketches. My materials. My dreams. And now

age. Something that makes him

name. But now... I am starting to t

en it is personal. And

pressure point. The weakness behind the empire. If I co

mmed, cityscape glowing beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows

to talk

"Is that not what w

t. "Your mother l

paused

my studio. A p

s unreadable.

nt. What did she mean by break me? Why

My mother was brilliant. But she was also unstable.

ot about her condition. Thi

n? Go look in a mirror. You are the one who

"That is not love.

?" he whispered. "Tha

rity. He did not want love. He wanted legacy. Co

ant

his drink. "That

will mak

ction too slow. "Th

nn, who once mentored me through the trenches of design school. She agre

e in trouble," sh

emember D

e elite fashion circuit does. She va

as silenced. And that her son i

Locked in the archives of the old Vale estate. If t

"Where is t

Hudson Valley. Re

Black clothing. A flashlight

ing and enteri

breaking

moonlight spilling like secrets. The estate loomed beyond iron gate

ough hallways until we found the study. Shelves lined th

Eva. "Do n

not going to. But ye

e safe in unde

ther-bound journals.

f

rst volume. Diana's handwriting was sharp a

a monster with my love. And now he mo

eyes reminded him of fire and ambition. I warned him. Love is no

ession. They revealed training.

g for me. He had sel

ntity. He had tried to redesig

one b

. Just

ed the past. Now pr

fr

nt lights

d for th

et, a black car idled. E

e stepp

Ja

one

t I had left bur

ed as I whisp

ted to see my

like

war that was no longer

about s

that never

Some truths are buried not to protect others b

shadows are just b