Chapter 3

The living room was full of laughter.

Not one of them noticed me sitting in the corner.

Only after Natalie had sorted through everything she'd brought back from the trip did she finally spot me there.

"Sis! I didn't even see you! When did you get here?"

The room went quiet for a moment. The smiles vanished from their faces as their eyes landed on me.

Then Ethan pulled out a small box and walked over to me.

“A travel souvenir for you,” he said.

The word souvenir went into my heart like a thin needle.

It was supposed to have been my honeymoon.

And now all I got out of it was a so-called "souvenir."

I took the box and opened it. Inside was a rose-gold bracelet with a tiny diamond chip dangling from it.

I recognized it at a glance.

I'd gone shopping at this brand with Natalie before.

Their signature piece was a star-and-moon necklace. The bracelet was the freebie bundled with it. The necklace was so wildly popular that it was always sold out here, while the bundled bracelet couldn't even sell at a discount.

I looked up, and when I saw the necklace around Natalie's neck, all I felt was: of course.

I put the bracelet away and set it on the coffee table. "No, thanks. I don’t want it."

Natalie's face fell. She bit her lip and looked at me. "Sis, you don't like it? I had Ethan pick it out for you especially. We went to so many stores before we found one that matched the necklace..."

Ethan frowned. "Sienna, Nattie went to the trouble of choosing a gift for you. What's with the attitude?"

My brother jumped in too. "Seriously. Nattie kept talking the whole trip about bringing you something back, and you walk in here making faces."

My mom tried to smooth it over. "All right, all right, Sienna's probably just tired. The bracelet's pretty. Just keep it."

They played off each other, all of them plainly set on forcing me to take the bracelet.

Because it was Natalie's so-called "thoughtfulness," I had to accept it.

Even if I didn't care for it and didn't want it.

It was disgusting.

I looked at them and suddenly let out a laugh. "So was this trip a honeymoon or a family vacation?"

The room went silent at once.

"Natalie walked down the aisle at my wedding for me. Natalie went on my honeymoon for me. And then you come back with a bracelet that was a free giveaway. Anyone who didn't know better would think Natalie was Ethan's wife."

"Sienna, what kind of thing is that to say!" My dad slammed his teacup down on the table, his face dark with anger. "You were the one who showed up late to the wedding without your dress. Who's to blame for that? You were also the one who didn't book a ticket for the honeymoon. Nattie was kind enough to go with Ethan in your place, and now you're blaming her?"

"Exactly," my brother chimed in right away. "Nattie kept bringing you up the whole trip, saying what a shame it was you couldn't come. How can you talk about her like that?"

Ethan's face hardened too. "Sienna, you've been going too far lately."

"Nattie is your sister. She risked being recognized and getting a bad reputation just to get through the wedding for you, and you, as her older sister, talk about her like this?"

"Besides, weren't you the one who picked France for the trip? I already reminded you. Who's to blame if you didn't book a ticket?"

I looked at their faces, one after another, all so self-righteous, and suddenly I felt incredibly tired.

Natalie was curled up on the sofa, holding back crying. While Ethan sat on one side and my brother on the other, guarding her like some priceless treasure.

And in this family's eyes, I was the enemy.

At that moment, I had to admit that more than a decade of raising me would never measure up to their own flesh and blood.

Even Ethan had probably long since forgotten that he once swore in front of both our families that I was the only one for him in this life.

Yet now, the one he stood up for at every turn was Natalie.

At least, seeing it all clearly now, it still wasn't too late.

My dad lit a cigarette and leaned back into the sofa. "Yesterday we received four invitations to the Sinclair family's homecoming gala. I was still thinking about who to bring."

"The Sinclairs are one of the wealthiest, most powerful families there is. Their influence reaches all over Boston and New York. After raising you all these years, I was going to take you to this gala so you could see a bit of the world. Maybe you could even make a connection with the Sinclairs."

"But since you still can't learn to behave and be sensible, and you're even jealous of your own sister, then Nattie will go instead."

I looked at their faces, every one of them so sure they were in the right, and suddenly even arguing felt pointless.

They had never planned to take me in the first place.

They had simply found a convenient excuse.

I answered meekly. "Fine."

Maybe they hadn't expected me to come around so quickly. My parents and my brother all seemed a little stunned.

Ethan sighed helplessly. "If you'd been this obedient from the start, wouldn't that have been better?"

"No problem. I should be able to bring a plus-one to this gala. You can come with me."

I shook my head.

"No need."

At the homecoming gala seven days from now, the daughter the Sinclairs intends to claim as their own is me.

Even those four invitations had been sent over by my people.

I'd wanted the Sinclairs to give the Whitmores a hand in business.

After all, I still remembered the debt of having been raised by them for more than ten years.

But now it looked like there was no point.

The gala seven days from now would also be the moment I cut every last tie with the Whitmores for good.