Chapter 168

"You're not stupid, Paisley," Emery said, her voice tight. "But those two aren't worth it. What about Rena? That jerk is still her father!" Anger flared in her eyes. "How did you ever marry him?"

The question, long simmering, finally burst forth. Paisley smiled, a teasing glint in her eyes. "He's hot!"

Emery rolled her eyes. "You know that's not what I mean!"

Paisley’s smile softened. "My grandfather found me when I was three. For ten years, he pushed me relentlessly. Ancient medicine, winemaking, painting – everything. Sleep was a luxury. Slack off, and I'd be locked on the mountain, no food, no light, until I could recite everything he’d taught me."

She paused, the memory etched on her face. "No food, no light…just the cold and the sounds of wild animals. I was grateful, though. He saved me. When he died, he left me knowledge, books, and a fortune – a fortune I didn’t know how to handle. A little girl with wealth…I became a target."

Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Betrayal, suffering…I hid my abilities, my wealth. I just wanted to be ordinary. At seventeen, the police found my parents, the Sullivans. I thought they'd be happy, but they had Brittany. They loved her more. My mother…she wished I’d died on that mountain."

A flicker of pain crossed her face. "That despair…it came back. But there was no grandfather this time. So I left. I met Dominick, crying by the roadside. He was drowning in his own sorrows, about to take over the family, everyone waiting for him to fail. We fell in love. He gave me a home…a home, Emery. You know what that meant to me."

She finished, a calm smile playing on her lips, as if recounting someone else's tale. There was no sadness in her eyes, only a quiet strength.