Serena’s POV

The morning sun pierced through the grimy window of my tiny apartment, its weak rays doing little to warm the chill that had settled in my bones after last night.

Daniel Hawthorne’s kiss still haunted me before I’d shoved him away and fled the limo. The red dress, now draped over a chair, and the diamonds tucked back in their box felt like a world I didn’t belong in, mocking the crumbling life I was fighting to hold together.

I barely slept, my dreams tangled with ...