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But the ugliness came anyway

When Alexander Hillyard found out that his perfect daughter was pregnant, he went crazy He locked her in her room and barred the ith thick, black iron rails No a words swayed him He decreed that she would have an abortion, and they would never speak of her indiscretion again He would not allow this to ruin her future

She waited in that cold, iside the , staring out, waiting for Angel to come for her

Finally she saw hi at the perimeter of the property She launched herself at the , clawing it with her fingers, crying out his name But he didn’t hear her

She watched him walk up the brick ay, then disappear into the house She huddled at her locked door, listening desperately for footsteps

Footsteps that never came

Fifteen est quarter of an hour of her life—he left the house She scralass At the gate he turned around, his eyes searching the front of the house

Their gazes met, and slowly, so slowly, he shook his head, then he turned and walked away She thought she’d seen tears on his cheeks, but it could have been the rain, she’d never been sure

Even after he left, she clung to a fraying thread of hope that he would be back A thread that broke cleanly the next night

She heard a ru the Alençon lace curtains aside He was at the side of the road, staring up at her , sitting on a brand-new, chrome-plated Harley-Davidson motorcycle

And that hen she knew: he’d taken money from her father

This ti, but she didn’t care He gave her a wan, tired wave, and then he drove away

It was the last ti her to save his life

She knew Angel had thought she’d had an abortion Her father had wasted no ti the daddy-to-be that there would be no baby

So what hadthe Pandora’s box that had been shut for so long?