I spent the rest of the morning talking to Emma. We covered a lot of ground, and I realized that she wasn’t involved in Mara and Tonia’s scandal. In fact, Emma had no idea they had taken the money from Ivan until they confessed later. At that moment, the only thing I could count on was the fact that I had someone to talk to—someone who genuinely cared, unlike my mom and everyone else who had crossed paths with me.

“Vera, you're going to be fine,” Emma said, placing a comforting hand ...