Narelle cried. Her mother cried harder.
I was thrown out that same night.
That winter was brutal. The kind of cold that seeps into your bones and never quite leaves.
I was hours away from sleeping on the streets when Sebastian found me. He'd searched the entire city.
He pulled me into his arms so tightly I couldn't breathe, his voice caught between fury and anguish.
"Why didn't you come to me?"
"Joy." He tilted my chin up, forcing me to meet his eyes. "Remember this. Even if the whole world abandons you, I want you. I will always want you."
After that, Sebastian poured everything he had into taking care of me.
He brought me to his elite prep school, a world of trust-fund heirs and designer uniforms where I stuck out like a stain on silk. Everyone waited for me to fail. To crumble. To prove I didn't belong.
At the opening ceremony, Sebastian took the stage as the top student representative. He was supposed to give an academic speech.
Instead, he looked directly into the crowd and said:
"Joy Harding is my life. Touch her, and you touch me."
The whispers stopped after that.