Chapter 6

Maya’s POV

Every tear I shed was the kind that helped me heal. It felt as though the wreckage of my broken life was slowly dissolving, draining out of me, and at last I could feel light again. I was so absorbed in the moment that I didn’t even notice the other passengers or flight attendants watching us.

“There, there. Everything’s going to be okay. Mom’s here now.” She whispered, her fingers gently stroking my hair. In that instant, a deep peace settled over me.

Is this what a mother should feel like? I thought, my heart swelling. How wonderful it must be.

I had grown up in a world obsessed with money—where men and women alike hungered for it. You wouldn’t get held like this unless you were as valuable as a gold bar. My own mother never offered me such comfort, and neither did Adrian’s mother, Mrs. Claudia, who re