The next morning Essence was out for a walk with Aisha and Chiti, a slew of security walking around them, including Piper. As soon as Vadim went to work, she’d begged Piper to let her go out with the girls for fresh air and to get more perspective on the f****d-up situation her mother created.
“I can’t believe your mother did all this.” Aisha shook her head. “I thought my foster parents were nuts.”
“My grandfather got more information from her,” Essence. “She knew from the time I was born I was likely going to be Vadim’s wife someday. I guess, though my grandfather didn’t directly tell her or my father, she overheard conversations and was fine with it until one day my dad said it was disgusting to marry me off to a boy so much older than me. It put Vadim in a different light for Mum and
