Chapter 3
Home.
The word felt foreign. Dangerous. Too good to be true.
Vivianne took us to her home—an estate on the edge of the city, warm and bright and full of life.
She explained everything.
My mother had been the heiress to a fortune. She’d run away to marry for love. And when she’d died... she’d left us with nothing on purpose. To keep us safe. She’d known her family would find us eventually. And she’d known we would be taken care of.
"She told me," Vivianne said, handing me a letter in my mother’s handwriting. "She said... if anything ever happened to her... to look for the girl who would stop in the rain. Who would give her last dollar to help a stranger. That would be you."
I unfolded the letter.
*Be good, Emily. Be kind. And remember... kindness is never wasted.*
I broke down then.
Everything I’d sacrificed. Everything I’d lost. It hadn’t been for nothing.
May you like
Vivianne wrapped her arms around me.
"You gave your last hope to save a stranger," she whispered. "And that stranger... was me."
