A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust by Sally Garcia

"She's downright terrifying when she loses it." Calliope remembered some of the stories she'd heard.

The Yalton family had been desperate to find a man to marry their daughter and give them an heir. But every guy they'd picked didn't even make it to the wedding. The eldest Miss Yalton had a way of... getting rid of them.

She was clearly unstable, so much so she never even had to face jail time. The Yaltons would just pull a few strings and sweep the whole thing under the rug.

Now, Gavin wanted Archie to marry Ms. Yalton. It was clear he didn't care whether Archie lived or died.

What kind of father does that? Calliope thought bitterly. Maybe he even hoped Archie would die, so Chester could have the whole family fortune to himself. Calliope frowned, feeling a pang of sympathy, and cast a quick glance at Archie. "Hey, Archie, it's okay. You've still got us," Calliope said gently. She knew what it felt like to be treated like that by your own family. Archie must be hurting.

After chatting with him for a bit, they finally made it home.

As soon as they walked in, everyone started bustling around the kitchen, eager to fix a meal for Archie.

But Archie just shrugged. "You guys already made a bunch of food earlier, right? There's plenty of leftovers. I'm fine with that. Don't go out of your way for me."

He was so insistent that they just reheated the leftovers: roast turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole good old comfort food. They all sat down and ate together.

bundled up and headed outside to set off

the pale winter moon, watching bursts of color

at home, alone and hungry this Christmas. He'd even thought he might actually be

he had in ages. He

said, looping her arm around his shoulders. "There's a whole lot of road ahead. I'll be right here. Whatever you need, you just let me know. This house is huge. Stay as long as you want. And if you

grinned. "No need. I've got my own place. Did you really think I'd work

years for the Yoders and end up with

time ago. He'd

name. But the truth was, Gavin only knew what Archie wanted him to see. He had his own house. He had money tucked away. Gavin had no clue what Archie was

Calliope knew that, too.

if you ever need help, we're here for

do. If

we'll help, we

it."