Lily stood slowly, ignoring the pain in her shoulder. "You want the truth, Catherine? Fine. You're right—I'm not the same person who forced Jacob into marriage. That Lily was cruel, manipulative, selfish. She hurt people. She deserved everything that happened to her."
Catherine's eyes gleamed with triumph.
"But I'm not her anymore. Whatever happened—" Lily chose her words carefully, "—I changed. I became someone better. Someone who loves your son genuinely, not for his money or status, but for who he is. Someone who would take a bullet for this family."
"How convenient. A complete personality transplant that just happens to make you more sympathetic."
"Believe what you want. But ask yourself this: would the old Lily Martin have jumped in front of a gun to save Grandpa Henry? Would she have endured scandal and humiliation without running away? Would she have fought this hard to keep a marriage she supposedly forced?"
Catherine hesitated, just for a moment.
