Simone’s hand instinctively touched the scarf covering her messy bun. Her thick black glasses hid her face. Her oversized sweatshirt and loose jeans erased her figure. She had spent years making herself invisible.
“Yes, ma’am,” she said softly.
Monica looked her over with open disgust. “I still don’t understand why we keep you around. You’re not really family.”
There it was again—the reminder she got every day.
Simone had been eight when her parents died in a car crash on Lake Shore Drive. Gerald Hart had appeared at the foster office claiming he had known her father and wanted to do the right thing.
For one year, Simone had believed him.
Then she learned the truth.
Gerald owed her father a great deal of money. Taking in the orphaned daughter had been cheaper than paying the debt—and better for public image.
She had never been family.
She had been charity. A maid. A scapegoat.
That morning, Lena Hart swept into the room, beautiful and glowing in a designer dress that cost more than Simone had spent on herself in years.
“Mama, I just heard. Is it true? Cameron Vance is really paralyzed?”
Monica smiled. “From the waist down. Terrible tragedy.”
Lena’s face fell. “But I’m supposed to marry him next month.”
Simone froze.
