Chapter 38

She stared at the frail woman on the bed, then back at Stefan, as realization settled in. All this time… he never once spoke about her, never mentioned her name.

The last time Mia had heard anything about Stefan’s mother, she had just turned eighteen, freshly returned from boarding school. Whispers in the elite circle spoke of a scandal, a drug overdose. Some claimed she’d passed, others said she was flown out of the country. The media had covered it up swiftly, cleanly, like she had never existed.

After that, it was like she vanished from the face of the earth. Mia, like everyone else, had assumed she...