The beauty of the boutique was accompanied by the quiet hum of workers going about their duties and the occasional clinking of hangers against the racks. Ariel had just emerged from the dressing room, smoothing the hem of a champagne colored dress that rhymed her body. Then, as she caught her reflection in the mirror, she stopped, her fingers resting light against the delicate lace at the neckline.

She could hardly recognize the woman staring back at her, she looked so different from the Ariel a few months ago, the one drowned in shame and was discarded. And while she was building her confidence, the wounds of that betrayal still...