The Night Everything Changed Lacey expected warmth. Laughter. Maybe even love. Instead, one sentence shattered her world. And in that moment, she had to choose—stay silent, or fight for the life she never meant to lose. The Man Who Stole the Stars The first time Lacey saw Aidan, he was standing by a bonfire, the flames dancing in his dark eyes. His laugh was loud, carefree, the kind that made people turn their heads. “You’re shivering,” he’d said, draping his jacket over her shoulders. “Better?” That was Aidan. Thoughtful. Charming.

The Summer Everything Shattered That summer, my world collapsed—money gone, Dad gone, nowhere to run. And just when I needed family the most, my stepmother slapped a price tag on my grief. I almost lost myself completely. The Beginning of the End I stood in my tiny rented apartment, staring at empty shelves, half-packed suitcases, and a mountain of boxes. For ten years, I had worked nonstop—no weekends, no breaks—saving every penny to open my dream: a cozy bookstore café. And just as I was about to step into that

I never thought the hardest decision of my life would come dressed in designer silk, delivered with a glass of red wine, and offered like a business deal. But when my son’s life was slipping through my fingers, I learned just how far someone would go to control a family they barely even claimed to love. I never pictured myself as the kind of woman who’d fall to her knees on the porch of a mansion, begging. But when you’re a mother, desperation changes you. Especially when your five-year-old son