The Forbidden Throb (Emma and Daniel) novel Chapter 203

Chapter 203

“But it wasn’t,” Lily’s laugh was hollow.” Because you had connections I didn’t have. Professors who remembered your work. Internship opportunities that came to you instead of you having to beg for them. And then-” Her voice cracked. “And then you had the Prescott family.”

My chest tightened.

“Do you know what it’s like,” Lily asked, her eyes glistening, “to work yourself to the bone, to sacrifice everything, only to watch someone else glide past you because they were born into the right family? Because they had the right last name, the right connections, the right luck?

“I tried so hard, Emma.” Her voice broke completely. “I tried so fucking hard to be as good as you. To be better than you. But it didn’t matter.”

The weight of her words settled over me like a heavy blanket.

“Like that family arrangement,” she said, her tone turning sharp again. “The one that meant you were always going to marry into the Prescott family, one way or another. You won the lottery before you even knew what the prize was.”

“And me?” Lily’s voice rose. “I’ve been drowning in student loans, working three part-time jobs, watching every penny.”

“The only thing my mother cared about,” Lily said, her voice flat, “was whether I could find a rich boyfriend. Preferably from one of Boston’s

old families. Someone who could take care of us. Someone who could pull us out of poverty with a marriage proposal.”

She met my eyes, and I saw something like shame flicker across her face.

“She used to say, ‘Look at Emma. She’s got that Prescott boy waiting for her. Why can’t you find someone like that? As if- Her voice cracked. “As if four years of academic excellence meant nothing compared to landing a wealthy husband.”

The parallel to my own mother’s attitudes was so stark it made me dizzy.

“So I tried,” Lily whispered.” I went to the right parties, wore the right clothes, smiled at the right people. I made myself available, approachable, appealing. And you know what I got?”

She didn’t wait for me to answer.

“Nothing. Because girls like me-girls from converted attics in Portland-we don’t get invited to the real parties.”

Her hands were trembling now, white-knuckled around her coffee cup.

“And then I’d see you,” she said, her voice barely audible. “You, who never seemed to want any of it. Who broke up with Nicholas Prescott like it was nothing. Who acted like being engaged to one of Boston’s most eligible bachelors was some kind of burden.”

She looked up at me, and the pain in her eyes was so raw it hurt to witness.

“Do you have any idea how that felt?” she asked.

“Stop.” The word came out sharper than I intended, cutting through her sentence like a knife.

Lily blinked, startled into silence.

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9:50 am

Chapter 203

I took a breath, feeling something shift inside me-

-a line being drawn, a boundary finally being set.

“I’ve heard enough,” I said quietly, but there was steel in my voice now. “I’ve listened to your story, Lily. I’ve tried to understand your pain. But I’m done hearing about how hard your life has been because of me.”

Her eyes widened, but I didn’t stop.

“The person who’s made your life difficult,” I said, my voice steady despite the trembling in my hands, “has always been you. Not me. Not my grandmother. Not the circumstances of our childhoods. You.”

“That’s not-”

“You trapped yourself,” I contin

for the bars.”

Lily’s face had gon

“You had c

achieve

Is coming faster now. “You built a cage out of comparison and jealousy, and then you blamed me

“You could have pursued your own interests instead of copying mine. You could have valued your own

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