ARIA

For the rest of the day, I feel like a walking bruise, and at home, things aren't better because now, I have Cassandra asking me how things are going with Ryder when Uncle Barty isn't looking, and I definitely don't want to share all my exhausting, conflicted emotions with her.

If I'm a pain to myself, I can't imagine what I must sound like to other people.

"There's no progress," I whisper to her before shaking my head. "He's going to marry someone else. I don't see the point of ...