Grace swallowed hard, finding it harder to resist the urge to reveal everything about Jace as it got stronger.
It would be so easy to just tell her mother that yes, there was a man in her life, but it wasn't the way Rufus and Trent made it out to be and that he was someone who truly cared about her deeply, and the same applied to her.
But the words caught in her throat. She couldn't risk it. Not now. Not when everything was still so precarious.
If her mother found out about Jace before she was ready to explain the full picture, it might only confirm the lies they'd spun.
Mom, I know this is hard for you to believe, but everything they told you is part of a plan to hurt me. Trent's desperate to have me since I turned him down, so he could only go about spreading false rumors about me. And Rufus… he's had this vendetta against me for a while, and is doing all these because it suits his own twisted goals. I promise you, I'm not what they're making me out to be."
