A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust by Sally Garcia

Calliope had agreed to go to the party with Silas. Honestly, she figured it'd give Hudson and Lance some much-needed time alone anyway.

Lance knew about Hudson's condition now, but who knew how he'd react? There was bound to be some drama. After all, Hudson had known about his illness for ages and never told Lance a thing. Lance had just kept believing it wasn't a big deal.

But now? Now he knew the truth-Hudson didn't have much time left. And Lance was head over heels for Hudson. No way he'd take this news well.

Heck, it wasn't just Lance. Even Calliope, who'd seen more than her share of tragedy, was struggling to accept it. She'd dealt with all sorts of rare diseases before, and when it was someone else, it was easier. But when it was your friend? That was a whole different kind of pain. The regret, the helpless anger-you hated yourself for not being able to do a damn thing.

Calliope wasn't ready to accept it. Not by a long shot.

She'd spent the whole afternoon on the phone, calling every specialist she knew -oncologists, surgeons, miracle workers, you name it. But even the best of the best looked at Hudson's files and just shook their heads. She'd even tried her old mentor, who could usually pull off the impossible. But all he said was, "It's time to start making arrangements."

By the time the party rolled around that night, Calliope was barely paying attention to anything. Her mind kept circling back to Hudson.

then went off to schmooze and talk business. He even brought her a plate of appetizers-mini quiches, sliders, and those tiny

She couldn't stop thinking about Hudson. She didn't want drama, wasn't looking for anyone to pick

trouble found her anyway. She was balancing her plate, nibbling on a piece of cheese, when someone bumped into her hard enough to send her food

stared at the scattered snacks and sighed, eyebrows knitting together in

gosh, I'm so sorry!" a woman blurted out, all wide-eyed

cool glance, but since the woman had apologized she just picked up her plate and what food she could salvage, tossing

done. Before Calliope could even sit back down, she shoved past her again-this time almost knocking

barely caught herself. Narrowing her eyes, she

doing this

"Wow,