Fall From Grace

Prologue

JANUARY

I was on top of the world. Untouchable, with everything I ever wanted at my fingertips. But the thing about reaching such great heights is there’s only one way to go—down. And when I fell, I didn’t stumble. I crashed. A true fall from grace.

The doorbell buzzed, and I groaned. I wasn’t ready for Grant and his antics just yet.

Glancing down at my body, I realized how undressed I was, clad in just my underwear, so I threw on my silk nightgown and robe before I headed toward the foyer.

“Grant, I thought I told you—” I started, but as I opened the door fully, my expression morphed from one of annoyance to one of surprise. It was like I had seen a ghost, and in some ways, I had.

Icy droplets of rain pelted me, the wind gusting and pulling in the frozen air, chilling me to the bone. I wrapped my arms around my waist, trying to stop the shivers at the sudden change in temperature.

“Julia,” I gasped.

It had been months since I’d seen her, and the ache in my chest grew at the sight of my sister.

Based on our last conversation, I assumed she was lying on a beach somewhere, so this visit was definitely a surprise.

I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed her until she stood before me.

When I stepped forward to hug her, she shrugged me away, putting out her lit cigarette.

“Let me in,” she grumbled. “It’s fucking freezing out here, and I’m getting drenched.”

The band T-shirt she wore was plastered to her chest, her jeans having turned a shade darker than their once light blue color.

Dark circles stood out prominently underneath her eyes, a stark contrast to her otherwise pale, too thin face.

As I studied her, I couldn’t help but think that she’d aged in just a few months’ time.

Julia wasn’t much older than me, but she was slumped over and her movements were sluggish, like the weight of the world was on her shoulders.

I moved aside but not without muttering, “Please take off your shoes.” I’d just gotten the floors redone, along with adding a fresh coat of paint to the walls. My mother insisted on a heathered gray stain for a classier look.

Julia flicked the butt off the stoop and pushed her way inside, mumbling some profanities as she slipped off her beaten-up sneakers.

Silence surrounded us as we stood in the doorway, our eyes connected in a battle of wills, neither of us seeming to want to be the first to look away.

Her brown irises held a hard glint to them, and I searched her features desperately for some resemblance of the Julia who was like my other half at one point.

I don’t know what it was like for her, but for me, it was as if I were staring into the face of a stranger.

When did my sister become unrecognizable to me?

After a moment or two, I let my gaze drop, not having the energy to continue this standoff.

I turned and started for the stairs, needing to finish getting presentable before the company I was expecting shortly arrived.

Grant may not have shown up early like I had thought, but he’d be here soon to escort me to the celebratory gala being hosted in my honor.

The celebration was for my partnership with a world-renowned fashion house, Beaute.

“Where are you going, Grace?” Julia demanded, huffing as she climbed the stairs after me.

I couldn’t help but chuckle. It was comical that she was asking me where I was going since she hadn’t been around in months, and before that brief pop-in, it had been at least a year.

She hadn’t done me the courtesy of sharing her whereabouts with me then, but suddenly she was expecting to know all my comings and goings.

Although, I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Julia ran away when it suited her. Without fail, when the going got tough, she couldn’t be bothered to stay and deal with the wreckage.

I had texted Julia about this brand deal since it was the biggest one I had ever signed.

Even though she hated this stuff, I expected her to acknowledge how much of an accomplishment this was, to tell me how she was proud of me.

She didn’t even message me back until a week later. A simple “congrats” text was all I got.

“To get ready. The creative director of Beaute is co-hosting an announcement party for me tonight.” I sighed, stopping midway up the staircase.

Julia laughed with no humor. “Still following Jacqueline’s orders, huh?”

I frowned at the mention of our mother’s name. I could make decisions on my own without Jacqueline Harrington pulling the strings. Even if she had been the one to introduce me to the head designer.

“It’s a multimillion-dollar endorsement campaign. For the exposure alone, I should be paying them,” I defended, tightening the belt of my robe.

She completely ignored my accomplishment. “And you’re going with Grant Abernathy?” Julia scoffed. Her look of disgust was unmistakable. She shook her head and looked more like our mother than she would care to admit. “I don’t know why you even hang around with him.”

Maybe because I can’t hang around with you. I was so lonely I could talk to the freshly painted walls.

I looked at her, willing her to see me. Help me. Just to show up for me, like she used to.

“He’s a friend,” I finally said, defeated.

Yeah, a friend who you do drugs with and sometimes fuck .

“Oh my fucking God, Grace! You’re insufferable. Everything I’ve tried to teach you has gone right out the window, hasn’t it?!” Julia yelled. She threw her hands up dramatically, almost hitting the vase on the console table.

“Just like Mom,” she spat.

Her words echoed in my head. Just like Mom.

I slumped my shoulders. Julia knew that bit would crush me.

I was tired of all of this. It felt like I couldn’t breathe anywhere I turned.

I had heard that time and time again. Friends of mine said it often as a shining compliment.

They thought it was the best praise they could give. Everyone wanted to be Jacqueline.

Unless you were one of her daughters. When Julia said those words, and she made sure to tell me any time we spoke, she meant them as the worst possible insult. Couldn’t she just tell me to go fuck myself and move along?

Julia turned her back to me, huffing as she grabbed her backpack from the floor, and muttered, “Pathetic” over her shoulder before stomping off. As she headed for the door, something told me to go after her.

I pulled myself out of my stupor and closed the gap between us, taking hold of her arm and spinning her around so that we were face-to-face.

“That’s not fair, Jules, and you know it,” I spat, pointing my finger in her face.

“You’re never around anymore. You’re out there doing God knows what with God knows whom.

And guess what? I’m here by myself. I’m so fucking alone. What did you expect?!”

This was shaping up to be the first real fight we’d ever had. The first time I ever went against what she was saying.

Sure, we fought over trivial matters, but this—this was big.

She didn’t approve of who I was becoming.

She didn’t approve of me .

All my life I’d sought praise from my mother, and when I realized I would never get that, I’d grasped on to Julia.

I looked up to my sister, admired her sense of self.

Her values and beliefs weren’t something she compromised for money or notoriety.

Two things that were vital in my mother’s world—in my world.

Julia had expressed many times how betrayed she felt that I was not only partaking in high society but that they’d welcomed me with open arms.

I was the golden girl. The IT girl. She insisted it wasn’t something to be proud of—high society to Julia was pretentious and not sustainable.

“Grace, get your finger out of my fucking face,” Julia muttered through gritted teeth.

Her tone and the serious expression on her face told me she wasn’t messing around. Julia could throw down. I’d seen her wrath and didn’t want to be on the receiving end, so I put my hands up, conceding defeat. I truly didn’t want to fight—not with her. I didn’t want to hurt her. She was all I had.

“Everything I worked to protect you from—all for nothing.” Julia shook her head in disgust. “Go right ahead—wear your expensive rags, Grace—but news flash, you’re no better than the rest of us.”

“Jules, enough.”

The doorbell rang and I huffed. Grant.

The last thing I needed was Grant and Julia in the same room together. They hated one another. Hate probably wasn’t a strong enough word, and it probably wasn’t an accurate description of Grant’s feelings. I’d had a hunch he’d had a crush on Julia for years.

I took a deep breath, plastered a false smile on my face, and went to answer the door, tightening the belt on my robe once more.

“Grace, I’m not finished talking to you,” Julia called out from behind me.

There was pounding on the door as I went to open it.

“Grace, what took you so long?! I’m getting soaked out here!” Grant scolded before I’d even fully opened the door. Rain had saturated his usually perfectly coiffed hair. His tailored black suit had droplets running down the fabric.

“Afraid of a little rain? What a pussy,” Julia snarked from behind me.

Grant grinned his classic devilish smile as soon as I swung the door open enough for him to see Julia. “Well, well, well, speaking of pussy, look what the cat dragged in.”

Seemed like my hunch wasn’t that far off base. Even noncommitted relationships had complications. Loyalty being one of them.

“Grant, stop,” I warned and rolled my eyes when he had the audacity to check out Julia’s ass as she walked away.

“Pig,” I mumbled under my breath as I let him into my house. I didn’t even know why I kept him in my life. Just another mistake to add to the mile-long list.