INICIAR SESIÓNMy time is still frozen. My brain is splitting with the shock.What the fuck?I’m staring at Sienna, and I can’t look away. She’s wearing a long black leather jacket that covers her whole body. A white shirt tucked under a black leather skirt that almost touches her knees. High heels. Brown hair exactly like Diana’s used to be. Amber eyes exactly like Diana’s.Our eyes meet across the room and the floor tilts for a second. I can’t tell if I’m breathing. I can’t tell if I’m standing or sitting or floating. All I know is that she’s really here. I spent five years looking for her and now I don’t know what to do with that.The memories I’ve tried to forget start gunning against each other in my head. The way she used to laugh. The way she used to tell me I’m the only man who can keep up with her. I thought I was over her. I told myself I was over her. But seeing her standing there in the flesh, after five years of hunting and wondering and giving up, is doing something to my chest t
Ms. Delgado sits down. Her eyes are sharp as a hawk. I can tell how much she doesn't like this. None of us knows what Kandice is about to say."I've been sick for years," Kandice says, her tone getting softer than before. "My heart has been failing me ever since I turned forty. I couldn't walk properly. I couldn't cook. I couldn't even take care of myself.”“My daughter sacrificed everything to keep me alive. She sacrificed her college years, her time, her strength. She married a man she didn't love because he promised to take care of me. She worked jobs that drained her soul because she needed to pay my bills. She endured things from her husband because he held my life against her."Her voice is trembling, and I see her take a big breath."And then Mr. Arsher came into our lives. He didn't know me. He didn't owe me anything. But he paid for my treatments.”“He found me donors, paying them monthly to donate for me. He kept me alive. Not because I asked. Not even because Diana begged.
~~~CAIRO~~~I’m sitting at the table, flanked by lawyers who are ready to murder the most ridiculous questions targeted at me. But none of that shit matters to me this second.The prosecutor is up in the pulpit, flapping his gums, but I’m not fazed by a single word he says. My eyes are lost, staring at the girl at the back. My girl. She’s sitting under those shitty white lights, the sight of her making me forget I’m in a courtroom facing a life cage.Her silver hair is glowing like a damn halo. She’s wearing a white corporate shirt tucked under a black skirt. It’s like a message, telling me she’s fighting and hasn't given up.Then I see her mother sitting next to her like a silent ghost. Kandice. The woman who hated my guts, who tried to destroy me with a video she kept hidden for years. Diana actually did it. I don’t know what kind of hell she pulled through or what she had to promise that woman, but she brought her mother here to save me.That’s my girl. She isn't that scared g
The plane just took off from the California airport and my stomach hasn't stopped flipping since we left home. Mom spent the last two days on the phone with Cairo's lawyers, going over her testimony again and again until she could say it in her sleep.She's on their side now, whether she loves it or not. I don't know if she actually believes in Cairo or if she's just scared of losing her treatment, but I don't care anymore. She's Team Cairo now. That's what matters.Pippa is sprawled out in the seat next to me, her mouth slightly open, soft snores coming out every few seconds. She's been asleep since we took off.Mom is by the window, her gaze fixed on the clouds with her hands folded. She looks calm and I can't read what's going through her mind. I just hope she doesn't disappoint.I lean my head back and close my eyes. We have twenty-five minutes until the court hearing starts. But we just left the airport. Cairo's jet would have made it in forty minutes, but we're on a regular pl
I finally find my voice. "What is it?""After this is over, after he's free... you have to leave him," Mom says.My heart locks down just at the mention of leaving Cairo. I turn around to look at her. "What?""You heard me, Diana. I'll help you save him. But when it's done, you walk away. No more sneaking around to see my daughter.""And this?!" She drags the bangle on my wrist and lets it snap against my skin."Argh!" I wince in pain."You have to take it off. You have to end it.""Mom, I can't just...""Those are my terms, Diana. Take them or leave them."I stare at her. The rage is building up again, but I'm too tired to fight. I’m just too fucking tired to keep screaming. Besides, I don't want to say anything that'll get her to change her mind."Let's get him out first... then we'll talk about the rest.""That's not a promise," she counters."That's all you're getting from me right now, Mom."Her jaw moves a little. I know she's clenching her teeth. She looks like she wants to arg
"What is this, Diana? Why is Doctor Sebastian here? Is something wrong with my tests?" Mom asks.Doctor Sebastian is sitting in the armchair by the window with the folder open on his lap. Pippa is leaning against the wall near the kitchen trying to look invisible, which honestly isn't working because she looks nervous as hell. Mom is sitting on the couch with her hands folded in her lap, looking back and forth between me and the doctor like she's waiting for someone to tell her she's dying.Aside from my heart that's literally killing me, my belly is fluttery with panic. But I don't answer right away. Mom looks at the doctor and he gives her a small nod. Doctor Sebastian clears his throat and flips the pages of the file."Mrs. Kandice, your tests are fine. Your numbers are better than they've been in years."Mom's shoulders drop slightly. "Then why are you here?"Sebastian’s gaze flips to me, then back to Mom. "Because your daughter asked me to explain something to you."Mom looks







