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She’d ed him to pick her, and he hadn’t even bothered to respond A sour taste filled Violet’s mouth as she stared at the picture, and she slammed the photo album shut and tossed it across the roonored her letter She’d gone home, cried for teeks, and lost the baby a month later Which made her cry harder

And then she’d picked herself up, returned to college, and vowed that her happiness would never be contingent on anyone else’s plans ever again

In herJonathan’s look of pleasure earlier that day You called off the wedding? You’re not rily, then flopped down on the bed, deterht Jonathan had been shocked to hear that she wasn’t married So the saintly Dr DeWitt had lied to his favorite protégé? Gee, there was a shock Her father would have sold the shirt off his deadfor a project Violet had known that all her life How could Jonathan not have realized that?

Briefly, she wondered if he’d ever gotten her letter

It didn’tthe baby card had been the only chip she’d had, and she’d lost that bargaining chip a ardless Not when he had other plans

She supposed things worked out for the best, after all If Jonathan hadn’t turned her down, she e to the bastard, and he would have been trapped in a e because of a baby he didn’t want She’d seen his true selfishness

Yep, life alorked out the way it was supposed to, she told herself as she settled down into bed again

But she still had trouble sleeping that night

TWO

The next , Violet woke up five o off, bleary-eyed andon her bedside with a text, and picked it up

Staff , Violet fell back in the pillows Who the hell scheduled an i to be an especially otten about two hours of sleep Ugh Hauling herself out of bed, Violet took a quick shower and began to get ready for work

Fortylot with an extra-large coffee in hand and a throbbing headache The parking lot was already full, which oody Hurrying inside the school, she noticed there was a Lyons convertible parked in the fire lane in the front

Surely that was coincidence, wasn’t it? Lots of rich guys drove Lyons Owning one of the flashy roadsters had turned into a status syo when they’d been featured in one of those high-octane car movies After that, Lyons Motors had turned from joke to success Not that she followed how his co At any rate, there were Lyons cars all over the roads It didn’t mean that assle was still here, did it?

Eyes narrowed, Violet clenched her coffee in hand and headed to the cafeteria for the staff

Despite the early hour, the tables had been unfolded and teachers filled the seats Esparza’s portable little podium was at the front of the room, and behind her, a row of seats was filled

Jonathan sat in one of the seats

Violet’s hand clenched violently, and her coffee spewed out of the paper cup, slopping all over her hand, her white sleeve, and the floor

With a hiss, she dropped the cup and shook her hand to expel the stinging hot coffee, even as her friend Kirsten raced up with a stack of paper towels "You okay?"

"Just peachy," Violet told her, squatting in her heels and skirt to clean up herabout funding," KirstenViolet mop up the coffee "You know the school district’s been in the red for a while"

Oh, no If it wasn’t for the presence of that swanky car at the curb, Violet would have thought this was a layoff of so cut But the fact that Jonathan--Daddy Warbucks hi at the front of the roo A real bad feeling

She sat down at the back of the rooaze was fixed in her direction Goddamn it He’d probably seen her spill her coffee everywhere She wanted to seem cool and unaffected by his presence Too late for that Fine then He wanted to eyeball her from afar? Violet leaned in close to the coach seated next to her "Knohat this is about?"

Coach Tra, but he already had a boyfriend, and was a longti," she said, h in his direction When she looked back over at Jonathan, his face was stark with anger and possessiveness Good Let ave up your claio

"Is everyone here?" Esparza called into the microphone, then bea, but I wanted to get all the teachers together to go over the good news"

Oh, no Oh, no no no