Chapter 1

After saying that, I pushed myself to my feet.

The firefighters had arrived and were rushing to get the blaze under control. I moved off to the side with Belinda Banks, one of the maids, while she cleaned and bandaged the cuts on my palms.

When I looked up, I spotted Axel Hooper and Rosalie Quade not far away. She was curled up against him, tears in her eyes as she pointed to a tiny scratch on her arm.

"Axel, it hurts."

Axel's face tightened with concern. He snapped at the butler, "Watch what you're doing! Be gentle. You know Rosie can't stand pain!"

His eyes were red with worry. He looked like he wished he could take the pain for her.

My throat tightened, but I managed to hold back the tears.

Belinda's voice pulled my attention back.

"All done, Ms. Gates. You really handle pain well. Cuts on your palms hurt like crazy, but you didn't make a sound. You're tough!"

Some people only had to cry to get sympathy. My tears had never gotten me anything from Axel but annoyance.

I gave Belinda a grateful smile, got up, and headed for my car. I had only taken a few steps when my phone rang in my pocket.

It was Mom.

"Valerie, are you at Hooper Manor? I heard there was a fire, and Rosie's still there! Is she okay? She won't answer her phone. Can you put her on so your dad and I can talk to her?

"We're overseas, and we're so worried we can't even sleep!"

I stopped short, suddenly finding it hard to breathe.

I asked quietly, "Mom, have you known this whole time that Axel was cheating on me with Rosie again? You know I'm Axel's girlfriend, right?"

Mom fell silent. Even she seemed to realize how hurtful that sounded.

When she finally spoke, she sounded a little guilty. "Valerie, don't take this the wrong way. You're my biological daughter, but I raised Rosie too. I love both of you. I'll explain everything to you later, okay?

"For now, can you just put Rosie on the phone?"

The fire at Hooper Manor might as well have been burning me too. It hurt so much.

Axel didn't love me. Apparently, Mom didn't either.

No one did.

Mom kept urging me to put Rosalie on the phone, so eventually, I gave in.

I walked over to Rosalie with Axel watching me warily and held out my phone. "It's Mom. She's worried about you."

Rosalie put the call on speaker. As if she wanted to rub it in my face, she immediately started talking to Mom in an overly sweet voice.

"Mm-hmm, I'm fine. Axel took really good care of me. I just got really scared.

"My arm? It's fine. It's only a little scratch.

"Axel already had someone take care of it. It doesn't hurt anymore."

Mom fussed over her, calling her "sweetheart" and "honey" over and over as she comforted her.

I stood there listening, too numb to react.

Rosalie looked satisfied when she saw how devastated I was. She handed the phone back to me, and I took it before turning to leave.

Axel suddenly called after me. "Hey. How's your hand?"

He looked annoyed, probably worried I'd use every little ache or injury as an excuse to cling to him again and make him take care of me.

Before tonight, I would've done exactly that. But now, it all just seemed pointless.

I shook my head. "I'm fine. It's nothing."

Then I kept walking. I had barely gone a few steps when Axel called after me again.

"Hey, are you really breaking up with me? Don't show up at my door again in a couple of days and kneel outside my house for days, begging me to take you back."

There was a hint of amusement in his voice. He clearly thought I'd made a fool of myself by begging him to take me back.

Rosalie, still tucked against him, snickered.

I didn't look back or slow down.

"I won't," I said calmly, my voice carrying through the night air.

"Axel, we're really done this time."