I wasn’t just Tracie Whitaker, the girl they thought they could belittle. I was the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Europe, and I had spent years hiding that fact. I’d built a life for myself, independent of my family’s legacy. And I’d done it all without Daniel ever questioning it, or perhaps he just didn’t care enough to look deeper.
The truth was, I had planned to tell him. I’d intended to show him the life I’d walked away from, to share the world that none of them understood. But tonight had shattered that illusion.
As their laughter continued, I couldn’t stop the cold, suffocating feeling creeping in. Their mockery had pierced through the walls I’d carefully built around myself. They thought I didn’t understand them, but they were wrong. I’d been learning languages since childhood—Italian was just one of the five I spoke fluently. They thought I was an outsider, unable to comprehend their cruel jokes, but I was no fool.