Left for Dead, Found by Love

the guards opened the door, his face impassi

hollowed out, my throat raw from silent screams. I stumbled up the stairs, my

ter suite, craving the simple comfort of a sho

en I s

-length mirror, turning this way and th

of my biological mother, a woman I' d never known. It was priceless, not because of the desig

of pure, hot rage washed over me, bu

oing?" My voice

u' re out." She smoothed a hand down the silk. "Isn' t it beauti

her, my eyes fixed on the

st a dress. Cohen said I could borrow anyt

uld see she knew exactly what she was doing. There was a f

t of my

bling. "You' re being mean. I

te fabric on the corner of the vanity. I heard the sickening sound o

ld wen

out and connected with her cheek.

eatrical shock. She brought a hand to

me," she

issed, my eyes on the ruined dre

arily forgotten. "Of course I did. It' s just an old rag anyway. Cohen can buy you

going on

had entered just in time to see Kiera' s te

lance: me, standing there shaking

did you do?" he roared,

ing her face in his chest. "All I did w

e. "Are you out of your mind? Loo

I yelled, my voice breaking. "Lo

a tear in my own skin. "Cohen, you know what that dre

Cohen' s shoulder. "I' m so sorry," she whimpered. "I

rm tightening around her. "You will do n

of fabric, Aurora. Calm down." He reached into his pocket, pul

one. Buy ten. I don' t care. J

his face. The casual cruelty of his

He' d listened as I told him it was all I had of my mother. He had promised to have a climate-control

s if that could fix the gaping hol

ttention focused solely on Kiera. "Come o

his voice soft and comforting. "Don' t worry, I' ll take you sh

he ruined dress and the black credit card o

no sound. It wasn't just about the dress anymore. It was about

hem all and se

d, and with a surge of cold, clear fury, I snapped it in half. Th

He was a monster. And I