Iris had been counting down to prom for months, and for the first time in years, her mother, Claire, felt as though life was finally giving her daughter something beautiful instead of another reason to be strong. At seventeen, Iris had already learned to live with an absence most of her classmates could barely imagine: she had grown up without her father. Claire had spent years trying to make up for that missing piece, becoming both the steady parent and the person Iris turned to whenever the world became too complicated. She had worked long hours, hidden her worries behind reassuring smiles, and done everything she could to make sure her daughter never felt unwanted. But there was one part of their past Claire had never explained. She had convinced herself that keeping it secret was the only way to protect Iris. Then Ryan, the boy every girl at school wanted to take to prom, brought Iris home and told Claire she had five minutes to reveal the truth—or he would do it himself.
Ryan was not an ordinary prom date. He was the captain of the football team, an honor student with an impressive academic record, and the kind of boy teachers trusted without hesitation. He was handsome, polite, and popular, but what made him especially admired was the way he treated people. He helped younger students, thanked school staff by name, and rarely seemed interested in the attention that followed him wherever he went. Nearly every girl in Iris’s grade had wondered what it would be like to receive an invitation from him.
