"What did you say?!"
Helena's face turned ashen.
She didn't care whether Cassandra was crying. She seized her daughter by the shoulder, not even noticing the red marks her fingers left.
"Explain yourself properly. What do you mean, 'if I wasn't his first love'?"
Helena's eyes were wide, as if she wanted to devour her.
Between sobs, Cassandra explained:
"Actually... I don't know who Julian's real first love was. He got it wrong from the very beginning, mistaking me for her, and I... I just went along with it..."
The longer she spoke, the softer her voice became.
Cassandra had been born into a fairly wealthy family. Gregory and Helena had hoped for a son to inherit the family fortune, but they'd had a daughter.
In Helena's view, though, daughters had their advantages. If one grew up
