Isla POV

9 Years Ago

I sat in the back seat of my mother's car, dressed in my private school uniform, my bag clutched tight against my chest. My hair was scraped back into a messy bun, and I wore a pair of glasses that were too big for my face—they kept sliding down my nose, but I couldn't afford new ones.

My sister Vivienne sat in the front seat, a few years younger than me, singing along to the radio. She was always so confident, so loud, so easy to love. I watched her from the back, wishing I could be like her.

"Turn it up, Mom!" Vivienne laughed,...