"Tell me everything you know about Nancy and your father," I told Carl, placing the bills on the dirty counter. I kept my fingers on the bills to prevent him from snatching them. "I can tell you what I know," he offered. "Alright, go ahead," I said, nodding to him. I raised an eyebrow, expectantly. "Nancy was one of the good ones. One of the kindest, gentlest, most amazing women I've ever met. Granted, I didn't see her much because I was traveling and off at boarding school. Dad didn't like me around, especially when Nancy was there," Carl said. He contorted his face bitterly. "I'm sure he had his reasons," I muttered. "Go on, please.""Nancy worked for a non-profit. She spent a lot of time raising money for good causes. I'd say she was a modern-day saint," he went on, smirking at me. My stomach twisted uncomfortably and I wished Carl would lay off the praise. I couldn't tell if he was doing it on purpose to rile me up, or if he really felt that way about Nancy. "My

**Olivia POVI hurried down the Peterson driveway and away from the mansion. How could I forget about any of that? Temper or no, he had admitted to only pursuing me because I reminded him of someone else. I shook my head as I stalked down the street and turned the corner. I needed space. I needed to clear my head. Listening to his words made me feel sick, physically sick. I rubbed my stomach as I walked, breathing in deeply to calm the rising nausea. How could I have been so stupid? This whole time, I thought he really cared about me. If it hadn't been for Carl, I might have gone on believing the lie. If that wasn't ironic, I didn't know what was. My stomach lurched and I pitched forward, falling to my hands and knees on the pavement. My whole body trembled as my stomach heaved and I lost my breakfast on the sidewalk. Tears stung my eyes and I coughed. My throat burned. I crawled forward away from the mess until my arms and legs gave out. I felt clammy all over. Rea

After I got back to my apartment, I continued my clean up effort.Emails from Ellis. Deleted.Text message from Ellis. Deleted.While I was working on my computer and phone, I kept getting new incoming texts and calls from him, so I forced myself to block his number.Things went quiet for a few hours, and I finally was able to sit down on my coach. The only thing left was the Monsieur Canet bracelet that Ellis gifted me. I traced my fingers over the perfect pendant, admiring the craftsmanship and design. It was just so beautiful I couldn't get rid of it. I wasn't saving it because it reminded me of Ellis. I was saving it because I loved the artist and it was a beautiful piece of jewelry. I would need a few unique, conversation-worthy pieces of jewelry for my social events. A car horn honked outside my building. I went to the window to investigate the commotion and saw a familiar sports car parked outside. Glaring, I saw Ellis standing at the passenger door, leaning

"Do you mean that?" Ellis asked, his eyes widening. I took his hand and nodded. "You protected me, got hurt for me, and seeing you like this…" I trailed off as hot tears sprang to my eyes. Sniffling, I squeezed Ellis' hand. He tried to sit up and I propped up some pillows behind him so he wasn't lying flat. "Olivia, I never should have let you walk away that day. There is so much I want to tell you and I will explain everything," he said, a slight frown on his lips as he spoke. "Don't worry about that right now," I said. "I realized you really do care for me, regardless of how we came together.""Of course, I care about you!" he said. He squeezed my hand and winced, bringing his free hand to his shoulder and gently rubbing over the bandage. "I should have realized that sooner. I was silly to think…" I trailed off with a shrug. It hadn't been silly for me to be upset. Ellis had lied to me. But I could see past that now, knowing he'd protect me against anything. "You

I stared at the plane as it raced down the runway and took off. Olivia was gone.My focus shifted to my reflection in the glass. My hair was a mess, sweat trickled down my face and my suit jacket was wrinkled. I looked as awful as I felt. I ran my hands through my hair and smoothed it back. I straightened my clothes and took a deep breath.I needed to find out where Olivia had gone.Returning to the service desk, I tried to talk to the agent again. "Can you tell me where the flight was going?" I asked."Do you have the flight number?" she asked me."No. I only know the terminal it left from," I said."I'm sorry, Sir, I can't look up a flight by terminal. I need the flight number," she said."It just left, less than ten minutes ago," I said, pointing towards the terminal. "You can't tell me which one just left?""The computer doesn't track by terminal number. It tracks by flight number," she explained. "I can't look up a flight destination on the computer without the flight number."Gro