Chapter 1

In the car, my father slid a document onto my lap.

"Sign it, and Rockwell Ranch is yours. Leo's name will come off the joint bid, too."

I picked up the fountain pen and signed my real name.

I handed the document back to him and stared out the window.

My phone buzzed in my bag. Leo's name lit up the screen.

I answered, and his impatient voice came through.

"Elena, we're done. Come pack up your cheap clothes!

"Chloe's moving in tomorrow. She's the governor's only daughter, and Rockwell Ranch is her dowry. Once I marry her, the ranch is mine.

"Call me heartless if you want, but a penniless orphan like you is no use to me. We're through, Elena. Don't even think about coming back."

I said nothing. I ended the call, rolled down the window, and threw the old phone at the highway guardrail.

It bounced onto the road, where a passing car crushed it.

My father tapped his cane on the carpet beside me. "Do you need me to step in?"

I leaned back in my seat and shook my head.

"No, Father. Let him keep dreaming of marrying the governor's daughter.

"Let him think he has everything. Then I'll make him watch it all disappear. That's only fair."

I looked out the window and thought back to why I'd left home. I'd been sick of my father controlling my life, and I'd wanted to see what I could make of myself without the governor's name behind me.

I worked odd jobs until I met Leo, who was just starting his business. We clicked right away, and I joined his tiny studio.

At first, it was just the two of us. We stayed up late finishing proposals and went out together to pitch our products. Once, a client we were pitching to harassed me. Leo put himself between us and beat the guy up, deal or no deal, and came away black and blue himself.

It was the first time anyone had stood up for me without hesitation, without knowing who I was.

Later, the studio went six months without a cent coming in. We lived on water and crackers. When we landed our first deal, we held each other and cried.

From then on, we grew closer. We were partners in the business and lovers who supported each other.

He promised me a better life. But the better the studio did, the busier he got, and the less patience he had for me.

I told myself work was getting to him. Now I had to admit the truth: the Leo who used to fight for me was gone...

Meanwhile, at a luxury apartment downtown, Chloe crushed a framed photo of my family under her heel.

"The whole place smells like that broke orphan. It's disgusting. Get the cleaners in here and disinfect everything!"

Leo came over, took a diamond necklace from its box, and fastened it around her neck.

"Don't worry, baby. I told her to come get her things. You'll never have to see her again."

Only then was Chloe satisfied.

At the same time, the sedan pulled into the estate. The butler met me at the door and draped a cashmere coat over my shoulders.

"Welcome home, Ms. Rockwell."

I nodded and looked at the estate where I'd grown up, torn between feelings I couldn't name.

After all that, I'd ended up right back where I started. I'd set out to make it on my own, and I'd failed miserably.

Leo's words at the party still stung. I'd never imagined that all our years together would lose out to money in the end and turn into a joke.

I took the last photo of Leo and me out of my clutch, the one taken in our rental apartment, and threw it into the fire.

The photo curled and blackened. Soon, it was ash, and the past went with it...