Karen’s tone was as t as a calmke, utterly devoid of emotion. She was simply stating the facts.

    Seventeen years. For seventeen straight years, Karen had never spoken to Ileana in this way.

    Ileana’s face changed, her smile freezing awkwardly on her lips, teetering on the edge of tears.

    “After they sent me out of the country overnight, I changed my phone and number. Mom, you know I’ve never been good at remembering Dad’s and my brothers‘ numbers. There must be some misunderstanding. How could they possibly block

    me?”

    She forced augh, but only she knew–Karen wasn’t wrong.

    When Ileana couldn’t find anyone at the old apartment, she had tried calling them, one after another. She dialed nearly everyone except for Ivan Morton.

    At first, she thought maybe she was out of credit, but her phone worked fine otherwise. Then she suspected her phone was broken, so she handed a hundred bucks to the current tenant and borrowed his. This time, the call connected quickly–but as soon as Brendan Morton and Ethan Morton heard her voice, they mmed the phone down. Zachary Morton and Liam’s numbers would ring, but no ione /iever picked up.

    That’s when it hit her: she’d been blocked.

    She couldn’t bring herself to believe it, so she kept dialing, one number after another, until eventually, even the borrowed phone was blocked, and the annoyed owner snatched it back.

    The only reason she’d found this address at all was because a neighbor she vaguely remembered had taken pity on her and passed it along.

    “Mom, this is just a big misunderstanding. I’m your daughter, aren’t I? The daughter you raised for seventeen years–could you really throw me away? If… if even you don’t want me, what’s the point of living?”

    “Then go ahead and die!” Ileana had barely finished her words when Brendan’s voice rang out behind her, cutting like a knife.

    She spun around. Brendan stood there with a grocery bag in one hand, Alessia at his side.

    09:56

    Chapter

    “Dad!” she cried.

    “Don’t. I don’t deserve to be called your father. Your real dad is Scott, CEO of Tate Holdings. As for me, I do have a daughter–her name is Alessia, and she’s standing right here beside me. Anyone else? I don’t know them. Not my problem.”

    His words were blunt, every syble dripping with sarcasm.

    “But Dad, I’m the daughter you raised for seventeen years!”

    “That’s right, seventeen years! You remember that, do you? For seventeen years, I worked myself to the bone, but you never missed a single meal. And what did iyou /ido? You had a full te and still went looking for more elsewhere. I can honestly say I never wronged you, not once. But you–did you really think I didn’t iknow /iwhy Ivan ended up the way he did?”

    Ileana’s eyes widened in shock, as if she couldn’t believe even this secret was out.

    She snapped her gaze to Alessia, jabbing an usatory finger at her. “It was Alessia, wasn’t it? Dad, she’s lying to you! She’s framing me!”

    “Enough!” Brendan pulled Alessia behind him, his patience finally gone. “Karen, call security. Get her out of here.”

    “Of course. Come on in, quickly.” Karen nodded, opening the door for them.

    Ileana lurched forward, desperate to follow, but Brendan shoved her back with a force he didn’t bother to restrain. Weakened by days of exhaustion and withdrawal, she toppled over,nding hard on the pavement.

    She gasped, feeling the sting on her scraped palm.

    “Dad, I’m bleeding! Mom, look–I’m bleeding, it hurts…” Huge tears rolled down her cheeks as she held out her injured hand for them to see.

    Once, both of them would have rushed over, fussing over her with anxious affection. Nowi, /ithey simply stood there, cold and unmoved, closing the door in her face without so much as a nce.

    “Alessia! This is all your fault! What did you do to them, huh? That’s my family–my parents, my brothers! Who ido /iyou think you are? I wouldn’t be like this if it wasn’t for you. This is all because of you!”

    i212 /i