bChapter /bb390 /b

    Charlotte stared at the face before her. It was wless, almost eerily so, as if perfection itself could be unsettling. She’d already guessed there was stic surgery involved, but even so, there was ino /idenying that the woman’s eyes and brows bore a striking resemnce to her mother’s.

    That must be why she’d felt a strange sense of familiarity the first time they met.

    Snapping out of her reverie, Charlotte spoke up. “Since you and my mother are twins, why are you doing this to me?”

    Zoe’s expression turned cold.

    Charlotte pressed on, “You tampered with Loretta Donovan’s DNA test, didn’t you? You really couldn’t stand the thought of the Rayburn family finding me, could you?”

    Zoe swirled the tea in her cup, her face clouded and somber. “I never thought the Rayburns would actually manage to find you. It’s been more than twenty years, after all. Who could have guessed that your mother–lost in her own mind–would recognize you? Crazy as she is, she’s sharper about some things than you’d think.”

    “But she’s your sister…

    “Enough!” Zoe mmed her teacup down. Tea sshed across the table. She red at Charlotte, her eyes zing with anger, hurt, and resentment. “You don’t understand a thing. Sister? We might have shared the same face, but in our family’s eyes, there was never any equality

    between us.”

    “Laurinda only came into the world a few seconds before me, and yet that made her the Donovan Group’s eldest daughter. She got all the love, all the attention, all the resources. Just because we had different personalities–she was charming, always knew how to win the elders over, while I refused to grovel or y their games. I wanted to prove myself, and for that, I was always foundcking. And here’s something

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    else: the one who was originally supposed to marry your father was me.” Charlotte froze.

    “Surprised?” Zoe’sugh was sharp. “That’s right. The Rayburns wanted me as their match from the very start. I was the one who first met your

    father.”

    She slowly lifted her hands. “Do you want to know why I always wear these gloves?”

    Before Charlotte could answer, Zoe took off herce gloves, deliberate and unhurried. The backs of her hands were marred by deep, ugly

    scars–the aftermath of several skin grafts.

    Charlotte stared, speechless, her mind nk. “What happened…”

    “There was a fire years ago. It burned my face and hands. Why do you think I had surgery? My face was destroyed.” Zoe’s gaze lingered on her ruined, lifeless hands–no beauty left, only scars. Her voice cracked with regret. “I studied sculpture. My hands were my life. The fire took that from me—I can’t create anything perfect anymore.”

    Her eyes glistened for just a moment, then hardened again. “While I was trapped in my darkest days, my so–called sister was marrying into the Rayburn family, basking in the spotlight. She knew exactly who I loved, but she stabbed me in the back anyway!”

    Charlotte hadn’t recovered from the shock when Zoe suddenly let out a brittleugh. “So, no–I don’t regret swapping you all those years ago. Not for a second.”

    “It was you… You’re the one who took me from my parents?”

    The truth hit Charlotte like a p. The person responsible for tearing her away from her birth parents for over twenty years was standing right in front of her.

    She should have felt hatred. But instead, her heart was eerily calm.

    The Sterlings had always favored Hiram, but she’d never wanted for the.

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    basics. And after learning that Hiram was their only biological child, she’d somehow made peace with it all.

    “So what if I did?” Zoe slipped her gloves back on, unhurried. “Even if the Rayburns know, what does it matter? They owe me this.”

    She pulled a pair of sunsses from her bag and slid them on, rising to

    leave.

    Charlotte stood as well, her voice stopping Zoe in her tracks. “So this is your revenge? You’re really going to keep helping Tricia?”

    Zoe paused, but didn’t look back. “You and I were always meant to be on opposite sides.”

    As Zoe’s figure disappeared into the hallway, Charlotte’s hand clenched at her side.

    The revtions of the day were almost too much to process. She didn’t know what Zoe had really been through, or if there were

    misunderstandings buried in the past. But when she heard Zoe say, “We were always meant to be on opposite sides,” she actually felt a pang of

    regret.

    Was it the blood connection?

    At the hotel.

    Evander sat across from Jacques, half–heartedly ying chess. In the ten minutes since they’d started, his mind had wandered at least four or five times. It took Secretary Holden’s discreet cough to bring him back to the

    game.

    i“/iWhat’s the matter? Ever since Charlotte left, you haven’t been interested in ying against me, Jacques teased.

    i“/iYou’re overthinking it,” Evander replied, absently rolling a chess piece between his fingers. “I was just reminded of someone who disappeared a long time ago.”

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