Donna rose onto her toes, leaning close to her mother's ear. "No," she whispered. "I don't want him."
Her gaze drifted to the man standing a short distance away—posture relaxed, expression assured.
He watched her with smiling eyes, confident and bold, as if her choice were already decided.
In that moment, the warmth in his gaze seemed to hold a love that went bone-deep.
Robert! The very same Robert who, in another life, had thrown her from that terrible height just moments before.
The phantom agony of shattered bones and torn flesh still screamed through her veins. The man before her wasn't the boy she had once loved. He was the demon who had devoured her without a second thought.
Laura looked surprised, then concerned. "Donna, what happened? Did Robert upset you?"
A mother knows her child. Others might see a lovers' quarrel, but Laura had caught the shift in her daughter's eyes—the adoration gone, replaced by a tangle of hatred, disgust, confusion, and pain.
Donna tore her gaze away, wishing she could flay the vile man where he stood. Swallowing the bitterness, she smoothed her expression into calm. "I just don't like him anymore."
She was the heiress of the Donna family. Her likes and dislikes required no justification.
Laura simply chalked it up to a whim. Smiling, she stroked her daughter's soft hair. "Alright, if you don't like him, you don't. Our Donna is far too brilliant for a boy from the Robert family."
Emotion tightened Donna's throat. "Thank you, Mom."
No matter how strange her decisions, her mother always stood by her.
In her past life, she had been so blinded by Robert that she'd neglected everyone else—even her own parents. She remembered how, once he seized control of the group, he had sidelined every member of her family. He'd sent her mother to a sanatorium overseas, cut off for years.
If her mother had been here, perhaps her end wouldn't have been so wretched.
"Mom, I don't want Robert. I want Gerald."
Laura's face stiffened. "Gerald... Why? You know his situation is different. He has no family..."
Donna cut her off gently. "Mom, I'm your daughter. To me, even the grandest family name is just a bonus. My garden has plenty of flowers; one more or less doesn't matter. I want Gerald."
Laura hesitated. "Donna, you have four other suitors besides Robert. It doesn't have to be Gerald. He's not... suitable for you."
Donna shook her head. "But I like him. The others are only nice to me because they covet the family group. Gerald is different. He doesn't care about the group. He just... cares for me."
That single statement silenced any further argument.
"Alright," Laura conceded. "Let's set this aside for now. I need to discuss it with your father."
News that the Donna family heiress had not chosen a fiancé at her coming-of-age ball spread like wildfire through Southport. Officially, the family claimed Laura couldn't bear to part with her daughter so soon and had postponed the decision.
As for when it would be made, no further information was given.
The Robert family wasn't worried. Everyone knew Donna was head over heels for Robert. She'd marry into their family sooner or later—handing the Donna Group over in the process.
