“And what did you get?”
The question was quiet.
Dangerous.
Miranda swirled her wine.
“The Latharian Mate Program pays very well for… compatible matches,” she said in a low voice.“Especially high-value ones.Priority One matches carry a… well, I don’t like to discuss money, but asignificantfinder’s fee.”
The air left Emily's lungs.
She’d thought it was status, maybe bragging rights at the country club, but it wasn’t.It was simpler than that.
Far simpler.
“You sold me,” she said, her voice flat.
“Of course I didn’t.”Miranda's laugh was high and tinkling as she waved a hand.
“You sold me.”The words tasted like copper.“How much?How much was I worth then, Mom?”
Miranda’s mouth tightened.“Stop.Don’t be so vulgar, Emily.”
She took a few steps forward, rounding on her mother.Her mom.The one person in life who was supposed to have her back, no matter what.
“Did you negotiate?”she demanded.“Did you haggle?Did you tell them I have a master’s degree, or did you just show them my dental records and hip and bust measurements?”
“I said stop it!”Miranda slammed her glass down.Wine sloshed over the rim, staining the white tabletop like blood.
“You have no idea what it costs to maintain our lifestyle,” she snapped.“Investments went bad, bills piled up, and your father left me a mess to deal with, Emily.A disaster.And I fixed it.I always fix it.”
Emily snorted.“By selling your daughter to aliens.”
“By securing your future!”Drawing a breath, Miranda smoothed the front of her jacket down.“And mine.Yes.The payment was generous.It secured the penthouse, cleared our debts, and bought me a position on the board of the foundation.”
She looked at Emily with flat, unblinking eyes.
“You should be thanking me.I saved us both from irrelevance.I turned a liability into an asset.”
A liability.
Emily stared at the woman who’d given birth to her and searched for something… anything.A flicker of guilt, a crack of shame.
There was nothing.
She lifted her chin, her voice steady now.
“I amnota liability.”The anger had burned itself out.What was left was a hollowness.“I am a person.I have friends.I have a cat.Ihada life that was mine.”
Miranda checked her reflection in the dark glass of the viewport and smoothed one perfect strand of hair back into place.“Well, you were never going to amount to anything on your own.Playing saint in those dreadful shelters with those dreadful people.You were just wasting your potential.”
She adjusted her cuff so the diamond links caught the light.
“At least this way, you’re useful.”
Useful.
There was nothing left to say.So Emily turned and walked out.
