The Rose That Grew Thorns

I was Southport’s untouchable rose, admired by everyone yet criticized by no one.

Behind me stood Southport’s three most powerful families—the Carters, the Bennetts, and the Hayeses.

My fiancée, Ava Bennett, was a law professor who had never lost a case. Fierce, decisive, and ruthless in court, she was the eldest daughter of Southport’s most influential legal family.

Yet whenever she faced me, she would grow shy and lose the ability to speak.

My childhood friend, Nora Hayes, was a brilliant doctor. When I had a fever that wouldn’t break as a child, she stayed by my bed all night, her eyes…