Chapter 10

[Cordelia]

After I hung up with my lawyer, I wasn’t sure where I should go.

I couldn’t go to my parents, they would just send me straight back here to “fix” things.

I didn’t really have any friends…my whole adult life has been tied up in being the wife of Atlas Steele. When I got married at the age of 20, I dropped out of school.

The only person who had ever made any effort to stay connected was my old college roommate Tilly.

I almost didn’t call her, I was worried that my troubles would just be a burden, but when she answered, she was overjoyed to hear from me and immediately invited me to meet her for drinks and catch up. We hit it off immediately and it was like we had never been separated.

When I told her about my marriage and the disaster it had become, she offered me her spare room. She didn’t want rent or anything for it. The only price she asked of me was to “use this place to heal–and start designing again!”

Because Tilly had grown up to become Mathilda Madison, de