Chapter 1
Audrey Tripp
A tiny body slams into my hip, shoving me off balance and whacking my head on the roof of the trunk.I yelp, hiss, and catch my forearm on the rubber seal lining the rim, desperate to keep my dress clean despite the needle from the sewing kit sinking into the pad of my thumb.The little girl bouncing off me shrieks and pinwheels, so I grab her before she falls.
“Abigail, be careful!”
The mother’s frantic voice grates down my spine even as jealousy pierces my heart.Ever since I ran away from my stepfather and spent a night wandering the streets barefoot and broken only to return home the next morning and find my mom beaten to within an inch of her life ten years ago, I haven’t heard a single kind word from my mother.She hates and resents me and wishes we both had died that night.
The little girl clings to my arm and sobs.
I swallow my emotions and duck out from under the trunk lid only to blink in horror.
I’ve seen the little princess on television.Every political station has had her face plastered on the screen nonstop for the past two weeks because her father announced his campaign to run for governor of New York.
Dread roots me to the ground.I beg the universe to open a black hole under my feet and whisk me far, far away even if it means a horribly gruesome death.
For several heartbeats, I can’t force myself to move.I can’t let go of the girl.Can’t breathe.Can’t think.
As though trapped in a horror movie, I lift my gaze.A man’s suit fills my vision.Black lapels.Red tie.White shirt.
Pain and humiliation.
I force my attention upward and meet the eyes of my worst nightmare.
Donald Diamond—the monster who attacked me, took his anger out on my mom, then tossed us to the curb ten years ago—walks toward me with his arm around his pregnant wife’s waist.
His surprise morphs into a mix of menace and delight.My ex-stepfather smiles at me.Cold brown eyes trap mine.
Bile climbs up my throat.
I release his daughter and step back.Fear pulses through me.My ears ring.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!”His wife’s voice pierces through my panic.I take another step back and tighten my grip.The fiery pinprick of pain as the needle sinks deeper into my flesh gives me something to focus on besides the memories flashing through my mind.“She bolts every time we turn around, and I can’t catch her anymore.Abigail, come here, baby.”
The little girl cries harder.Donald squats in front of her.
I flinch as emotions slam through me.Once upon a time, he did the same to me.I once cherished the way he made me feel and thought I’d be his princess forever.
He proved me wrong.
Blood drips off my wrist.I suck down a breath and move my hand away from the car as I pull my thumb off the needle.
“Oh no!You’re bleeding,” the woman exclaims.
I shake my head and yank a few tissues out of the box in the trunk.
“I’m fine,” I lie.
I need to get away from them.Now.The buzzing in my ears and tightness in my chest warn of an impending panic attack.
My ex-stepfather wipes the tears from Abigail’s face before tucking her hand inside her mother’s and urging them toward the church.
I expected my ex-stepfather and his new family would be here today, but I thought I’d only see him from afar.My best friend, Brook, is marrying one of the richest men in New York City, so of course they invited all the prominent figureheads, including businessmen and politicians.
Donald Diamond is finishing his second term as the mayor of New York City.He wouldn’t miss the opportunity to flaunt his growing family.
Centipedes crawl in my stomach.Ice infects my veins.His wife insists they wait for him.He gestures to the back bumper of my car.
