Chapter 31

"Are you sure about this, Alice?" Emma asked, her voice echoing in the empty apartment as she struggled with a heavy box.

Alice paused, looking around the bare living room. It was small, nothing like the grand rooms of the MacPherson mansion. The paint was peeling in one corner, and she could hear the neighbors arguing through the thin walls. But it was hers. A new start. "I'm sure, Em," she said, trying to sound confident. "I need to do this. For me and for the baby."

Emma set down the box with a thud. "I still can't believe that rich jerk just dumped you like that. Who does he think he is?"

Alice felt a familiar surge of anger and hurt. "He's Carson MacPherson," she said bitterly. "He can do whatever he wants, apparently."

The sisters worked in silence for a while, unpacking Alice's meager belongings. The apartment was in a decent part of Manchester, not too far from where their mom lived. It wasn't London, but that was the point. Alice needed to get away from everything - and every