"What is your problem?!" My voice climbed as I turned in Luca's direction. His hazel eyes pierced through me, full of anger. "You don't own me! You barely even know me, so why the hell do you think you can tell me what I can and cannot do?" Tears threatened to spill over, daring me to blink so that they may have their escape but I refused. I would not cry in front of him. Long fingers brushed through his hair in frustration. His eyes transfixed upon me as he stepped closer, closing the distance between us. "I want to know you." His breathing became erratic. "And when Breckenwright told everyone that you two had slept together, I lost it." Before I had the chance to respond, his lips found mine in desperation. Soft yet dominate, he showed me how he truly felt as his arm wrapped around my waist, leading my back to one of the vacant canvases. An unfamiliar sensation burned within me, igniting a primal craving. I wanted him. I wanted his hands on me and his lips on mine. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - After seventeen years of being sheltered and thirteen years of homeschooling, Sylvia Thatcher could no longer take the seclusion. Making the transition from no peers to a prestigious school full of wealthy and talented students, how will she navigate the bumps and bruises that come with being the new girl?

Going from being surrounded by socialites to being emerged in a small, coastal town, Elaine Beckers must cope with the bumps and bruises that come with living among people that knew nothing of her past, or fortune, as her and her daughter try to find their place. Will they find their niche? Or will Manhattan beckon them back to the beginning?

"You'll get what you deserve, Witch." His hatred oozed out of his voice as he pushed me through the makeshift entrance. My eyes took in nothing of its décor, just the company in which it housed. Overwhelming. It was all so much. Sat before me, was the entire population of my hometown. Old neighbors, classmates, and vendors littered the chairs; all waiting for the verdict, even though they all knew the same as I. That I would soon die.