"So here is my answer," Heena stated, stepping back and delivering the final, brutal truth. "No. If my mother could, she would rather tear me into pieces and feed me to the dogs than ever accept me back into that estate. My bridge to the upper rings is burned to ashes."
Heena turned away, walking into the shadows of the apothecary. "So don't try to play the victim, old woman. Because befriending me will never mean befriending the Lu family. It only means you are standing in the blast zone."
The silence that followed Heena's words was so absolute it felt like the air had been sucked out of the room.
