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Chapter 14 Willow Reed 15:50,Oct 22,2026 The bruise over my ribs was three days old. Milo's medicine ran out two days ago. My stepfather's silver-buckled belt was still lying on the kitchen table, waiting for tonight. In four months I turn eighteen. That is the only reason I'm still breathing. So I sat on the roof of a house that legally belongs to me and counted stars instead of counting reasons to jump. Then a small voice said my name. "Em? That's really high." I looked down at my window. A seven-year-old stood there in a gray beanie, so thin the wind could have taken him. I swung back inside before he could climb after me. "I'm fine, Bug. Why are you awake?"
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Chapter 14 Sarah Jenkins 17:07,Oct 22,2026 Five years as his children's nanny, and the billionaire never once looked at my face. Until the night I saved his daughter's life — and he fired me anyway. "Pack your things, Miss Byrne. You're done here." Dominic Ashford stood in the doorway of the nursery, still in his black-tie suit, smelling like champagne and another woman's perfume. His jaw was set. His eyes were cold. Behind him, his fiancée, Celeste, leaned against the hallway wall with a smile so sharp it could cut glass.
