page7 (1/2)

For months, she had let Jackson walk over her, she had let Ashley make a mockery of her in front of friends

There had been too alas they needed to be seen at—dressed in designer clothes and sipping chane, instead of where she preferred to be—behind the scenes getting her hands dirty

There had been tooof substance Tooherself on parade on Jackson’s ar about her parents and her faround and connections

Too hed down by expectations Too hter of one of the most powerful aristocratic fa the Manhattan elite, power-hungry financier Jackson Smith’s fiancée

Too little of being herself, of just being Clio

All her life, she had craved her father’s approval, even when she hadn’t fit right with her family’s aristocratic connections She’d stupidly hoped he would be proud of her if she did as he asked of her

Had tried to hter Until she found out he had arranged her e and choked at the very ropes she had bound around herself

And she had fallen into the same trap with Jackson

All the signs had been there and she had been too blind to see the in her life to be a success

She had led herself to the very sao, into the same life where she couldn’t breathe

Every unco she had repressed, every doubt she had sed so that she didn’t s and parties, suddenly balled up in her throat, choking her breath

Her identity had somehow fractured and attached itself in pieces to Jackson’s

And all for what?

So that he could cheat on her, so that he could inate his assistant

Her love, her fears, hadn’tthat truth had all been her fault

CHAPTER THREE