Lily's POV

The days following the gala blurred together like watercolors in the rain. Tony had been everything a woman could want attentive, caring, protective. He brought me coffee in the mornings just the way I liked it, listened when I talked about my fears, and never once made me feel like I was too much or too broken.

But that was the problem, wasn't it? It was all too perfect.

I sat in the garden behind his mansion, watching the sunset paint the sky in shades of orange and pink. The beauty of it should have been comforting, but instead, it felt like a mockery. How could something so...