“Mom, I love him!” I sob over the phone. “Open the door! Can you hear? He’s waiting for me!” My fists slide along the smooth surface of the door. “Alice, he betrayed you,” Mom says cruelly. I can hear that she’s crying too. “You’re such an innocent fool. He’s got a million girls like you. And nothing sacred.” “It’s not like that,” I whisper, sliding down to the floor, tears clogging my throat, making it hard to breathe. How could he? His lips flash in my memory—how they whispered: “Aliska, my little one. You are the best thing in my life….” Lies! All lies! I shut my eyes and press my legs to my chest. And tomorrow… I’ll see him again at the institute—but it’ll be a stranger’s Ars…