"Ivy. It's been so long."

Seraphina leaned against Lucas's chest and spoke in that soft, airy voice of hers. "You were just leaving? I have so much I want to tell you."

She coughed a few times for good measure, and Lucas tightened his arm around her immediately.

So that's what a man looks like when the woman he's been pining over for years is finally in his arms. I'd never actually seen him like that before.

I let my mouth curve, not quite a smile. "Never mind the talking. You two have so much to catch up on. I wouldn't want to intrude. Unlike you, I haven't exactly been missing anyone."

"Ivy, are you upset with me?"

Her lips were white, tears trembling on her lashes. "Lucas was only worried my body couldn't handle the trip. That's the only reason he went with me to the hospital. Please don't misunderstand. I know the two of you are married."

Lucas's brow was knotted tight. Probably blaming me all over again for making his precious Seraphina cry.

Catherine had already started laying into me, every ugly word in her vocabulary thrown my way.

When Catherine had finally worn herself out, Seraphina wiped her eyes and said, gently, "I'm sorry, Ivy. Mother only worries about me. She doesn't mean any harm. Please don't take it to heart."

"I almost forgot. I brought you a gift from my trip. Even if you don't want to talk to me, at least take a look at it. It would mean a lot."

I didn't want to see it. Seraphina wasn't in the habit of picking out presents for me out of kindness.

But Catherine was already bristling, and I didn't have the patience for another scene tonight.

I had plans with Ethan. I couldn't waste any more time here. I nodded and followed Seraphina upstairs.

The bedroom door clicked shut, and Seraphina's frail-girl act dropped off her face in an instant.

"Ivy. Come on. Come see what I picked out for you."

She pulled out a ceramic figurine. A black-and-white spotted dog.

"Look at it. Doesn't it look like that scruffy little mutt you used to have? What was her name again? Happy? Yes, Happy. I remember it died in agony, skinned alive."

Seraphina ran a painted fingertip over the figurine. Her smile was sharp.

Happy. Five years of my life. She'd been my family, that dog.

But Seraphina tortured it to death while I was out working a shift.

By the time I got home, all that was left was the bloody pelt.

That was what Seraphina and I had fought about. That was what I'd been thrown out over, my living stipend cut off, kicked out of the only home I was allowed in.

I was seventeen. From that day forward I never took another cent of Ashford money. Scholarships and part-time jobs. I'd carried myself the rest of the way.

"Look at this ugly, stupid little thing," Seraphina said. "Doesn't it remind you of you?"

"I remember it, you know. She wouldn't stop barking at me, so I had the gardener hold her down. You should've seen it, Ivy. Dumb little thing actually tried to bite me when I picked up the shears."

"I took my time. She was still breathing when I buried her. I thought that was a nice touch."

"Shut up!"

I was shaking with rage. I didn't hesitate. My hand came up and the slap cracked across Seraphina's face.

The figurine hit the floor and shattered. Seraphina went down with it, scooping up a shard and dragging it across her own arm to open a long, bright line of blood. Then she started screaming.

The sound brought every person in the house running. Lucas was first through the door. He scooped her up, and when he saw the mark of my hand on her cheek, his face went dark.

"Ivy. What happened."

He'd gritted the question out. His expression was terrifying.

"What happened? Why don't you ask the woman in your arms?"

Seraphina trembled obligingly, playing the shaken victim. "Lucas, it's not Ivy's fault. I lost my balance. Don't blame her."

Catherine, of course, was incandescent. "Seraphina, you're too kind. Even now you're defending this animal! Ivy, if you know what's good for you, you'll agree to the donation. Otherwise you can count on never being recognized by this family!"

"Suit yourself," I said.

Lucas looked up then. "What donation?"

"A liver transplant for Seraphina, of course. Ivy's a match…"

Catherine didn't get to finish. Seraphina cut her off with a beautifully timed groan of pain. "Lucas. I don't feel well."

Lucas lifted her and headed for the door. Before he walked out, he threw a last line at me.

"I want an explanation for today. From you."

Then he was gone. Richard and Catherine ran after them, too rattled to remember they'd been cornering me a minute ago.

The room emptied. I picked up what was left of the shattered figurine and carried it out of the Ashford house.

I walked with it cradled in my hands, each step heavier than the last. Even after all these years, thinking about what Seraphina had done to Happy still left a sharp, hot ache in my chest.

I don't know how long I'd been walking when a car pulled up beside me. Ethan's tall frame stepped out.

I finally thought to check the time. I was an hour late.

"I'm sorry. I…"

Before I could finish he'd already folded me into a warm hug. He peeled off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders.

"What happened? You don't look okay."

His voice had gone soft. And I started crying before I could stop myself.

"I was just thinking about the dog I used to have."

"I couldn't protect her. Someone killed her. And I couldn't even make her pay for it. I wasn't the kind of owner Happy deserved."

The more I said, the harder the tears came, blurring everything.

Ethan was quiet. He held me. "I'm sorry," he said, low, "for not finding you sooner. For making you go through all of this alone."

"You did everything you could. I know that."

He tipped my face up and kissed the tears from the corners of my eyes, and then he just held me for a long time.

There was something about that pocket of warmth. The exhaustion and the pain that had been rising up in me all night bled out of me in his arms.

Until a pair of headlights cut across us.

Through the windshield I could see Lucas, watching, his face storm-dark.