Chapter 2

The year I graduated high school, after finishing my college applications and SATs, I rushed home with my acceptance letter to Sterling Aviation University, eager to share the news with my parents.

Instead, I got the call that they'd died in a plane crash.

Back then, Charlie Anton, wealthy second-generation heir that he was, had once held out a black card to me too.

"Rachel, put away your pride and come to Sterling Aviation University with me."

I hesitated for a long time, but in the end I pushed the card away.

"Forget it, Charlie. I have to set an example for my sister, who's still in middle school. I can't just take your money when I haven't earned it. If my choice bothers you, we can break up."

He pulled me into his arms, his eyes full of tenderness.

"I won't, Rachel. Even if you turn into some wrinkled, rough-around-the-edges woman someday, I'll never leave you."

But now, the same black card I'd once refused for Paige's sake had been shoved back into my pocket by her own hands.

I'd hoped for a future with Charlie, and instead he'd fallen for my sister.

His encouragement and her helplessness had once pulled me through my grief quickly.

Now the two of them were handing that old grief right back to me.

I sniffled and set aside the skewers that were still salvageable. Paige hadn't even noticed the burns on my skin.

Before she looped her arm through Charlie's and walked away, she turned back one more time to needle me.

"Think it over carefully. You can either come live a good life with me, or spend the rest of your life stuck in this filthy little stall.

"If you insist on being stubborn about it, don't blame me for not calling you my sister anymore."

Through all of it, Charlie never said a word. He just followed Paige out of my sight.

My stubborn resolve finally broke, and tears rolled down in fat drops. Hands shaking, I pulled out my phone and dialed a number.

"About opening a shop together in Rivermont, I'm in."

The voice on the other end lit up, delighted.

"That's great! I've scoped out a storefront. All we're missing now is a partner.

"With the recipe you've spent years perfecting, we can make this place a hit in Rivermont—no, we can take it nationwide. When can you get here? I'll book your flight right now..."

We agreed I'd arrive in three days. I took a deep breath and started cleaning up the wreckage.

It was a long while before I was sure the men who'd trashed the place weren't coming back.

Only then did Cathy Reynolds, the crepe vendor who set up her cart beside mine every day, dare to come help.

She helped me right the toppled tables and chairs, muttering furiously the whole time.

"How did Paige turn out like this? I remember when she was in middle school, she'd finish her homework right here and help you wait on customers. You always doted on her, telling her to just sit and relax.

"You're out here every day in that same old apron, reeking of smoke, while she walks around looking clean as a little princess who doesn't belong in this world.

"You were only eighteen back then. You were still a girl who needed her parents to dote on her too."

She kept going, taking my side the whole time, but all I could do was manage a bitter, wordless smile.

I wheeled the cart back to the building where I rented my apartment. I hadn't expected to find Charlie waiting there.

He seemed to have been standing there a long while. The moment he saw me, he stepped forward to check my injuries.

"You're hurt. I'm taking you to the hospital right now."

When I didn't move, his hand froze.

"Don't worry, I got Paige home safe. I didn't know she was your sister. You two don't even live together."

I sidestepped him and got off the cart.

The searing, needling pain from my scalded skin spread through me the moment I moved.

Of course he didn't know. To avoid being seen together, he'd always met me by the lake every summer break during college.

And after Paige graduated, she'd been too disgusted by how cramped my rental was to keep living there, and moved out on her own.

The two of them had never once been in the same room as me. How could they possibly know each other?

Watching my back as I walked away, Charlie let out a sigh.

"Rachel, we hadn't spoken in a month. I thought that meant we were over."