Chapter 4

Anne was only two years younger than me, but our parents had never treated us the same.

Not once.

Because she knew how to smile sweetly, cling to Mom's arm, and say exactly what people wanted to hear, she was always the daughter worth protecting.

I was blunt. Awkward. Bad at pretending.

Apparently, that meant I deserved everything they had done to me tonight.

Eric DeLuca watched me cry and gave a mocking laugh.

"What right do you have to cry?"

I looked up.

He pointed at me.

"If you're really innocent, prove it."

His gaze dropped toward my chest.

"That heart-shaped mole. If you don't have it, I'll kneel right here in front of everyone and beg you to forgive me."

He paused.

"But if you do have one, you voluntarily give up your federal appointment."

The room quieted.

Eric's expression turned vicious.

"Someone like you has no business working in the justice system."

A chill ran through me.

So that was it.

The nightclub accusation.

The video.

The public humiliation.

Everything Eric had done tonight had been leading to this.

The relatives began looking at one another.

"Federal appointment?"

"Glenda passed?"

"She got into the government and didn't even tell the family?"

Someone sneered.

"Since when does the federal government hire women who work in private clubs? Don't they investigate your background?"

I said nothing.

Five years.

Five years of studying while everyone assumed I was wasting my life.

Four failed attempts.

And this year, finally, I had ranked first in both the written exam and the final interview.

Only the background investigation remained.

It was scheduled for immediately after New Year's.

After what happened with Imperial, I had learned my lesson.

I hadn't told anyone.

Not Mom.

Not Dad.

Not even Anne.

Yet none of them looked surprised.

My parents didn't.

Anne didn't.

And Eric certainly didn't.

Something cold settled in my chest.

I looked directly at him.

"You placed second."

Eric's face tightened.

I continued, "For the same position."

Several relatives went silent.

"So this is what tonight is really about."

I gave a bitter laugh.

"You couldn't beat me on the exam, so you decided to destroy my background check instead."

His jaw clenched.

"Pathetic."

"Stop changing the subject!"

Eric suddenly turned toward the others.

"Someone hold her."

My stomach dropped.

He pointed at me.

"Strip her and we'll know the truth."

Anne moved first.

She grabbed my wrists and twisted my arms behind me.

"Mom! Dad! Help me!"

I struggled hard enough to nearly knock over a chair.

"Let go of me!"

No one did.

I raised my voice until it cut across the entire dining room.

"If any of you touch me, then from this moment on, you are no longer my family."

My parents stopped.

For one second, I thought those words had reached them.

Then Dad's expression hardened.

"Glenda, don't blame us."

Mom looked away.

"Eric is Anne's boyfriend. The DeLuca family came here as guests tonight. We can't let him be falsely accused either."

My blood went cold.

That was their excuse.

Justice for him.

At the cost of me.

Hands grabbed my coat.

Then my blouse.

I fought until my arms ached, but there were too many of them.

In front of relatives who had known me since birth, they pulled my clothes away piece by piece until I stood there in nothing but my bra.

For one heartbeat, the room was silent.

Then phones appeared.

Click.

Click.

Click.

People were taking pictures.

My own family.

Twenty-seven years old, and never in my life had I imagined I could be humiliated like this.

Eric shoved me sideways.

"Look!"

He pointed at my chest.

"There it is!"

His voice rose triumphantly.

"A heart-shaped mole."

The room exploded.

"I told you!"

"She's Princess Number Thirty-Six!"

Camera shutters went off from every direction.

I looked down.

There was a heart-shaped mark on my skin.

My mind went blank.

It had not been there before.

Someone had put it there.

In the chaos, I lunged for my phone and managed to wrench it back.

My fingers shook so badly I could barely type.

I opened Jarvis's messages.

Help me.

Two words.

Then I quickly sent another message to the police.

Before anyone could stop me, it went through.

Dad grabbed a fistful of my hair.

Pain shot through my scalp as he dragged me upright.

"Now what do you have to say?"

Tears blurred my vision.

But I refused to lower my head.

"You can manufacture evidence against anyone if you try hard enough."

His face darkened.

I looked down at the mark.

"That mole isn't mine."

I met my father's eyes.

"Someone put it there."

My gaze swept across Mom, Anne, and Eric.

"And I think we both know who had the opportunity."

Dad slapped me.

Hard.

My cheek burned so badly that for a second I couldn't hear anything.

I'd lost count of how many times he'd hit me tonight.

"Still lying?"

His voice was full of disgust.

"You said yourself that you don't consider us family anymore."

He released my hair.

"Fine."

Dad turned toward the head of the table.

The eldest Moretti uncle was sitting there, watching everything without expression.

"The family elder is here tonight. He witnessed what happened."

My father looked back at me.

"From this moment forward, Glenda Moretti is removed from the family registry."

A murmur swept through the room.

His voice grew louder.

"She has no claim to the Moretti name, our property, our businesses, or our protection."

He pointed toward the door.

"From tonight on, you are no daughter of mine."

The insults began immediately.

"Laurence did the right thing. I don't want people hearing that the Morettis keep prostitutes in the family."

"Two daughters were always unnecessary trouble anyway. Anne is enough."

Then someone laughed.

"So if Glenda loses the federal position, does Eric get it?"

Another voice followed.

"Congratulations, Anne. A boyfriend in the federal justice system isn't bad at all."

One uncle grinned at Eric.

"But you know what they say. The moment a man gets power, the first thing he does is trade in his girlfriend."

Eric laughed.

Then, right in front of everyone, he pulled Anne into his arms.

He kissed her deeply.

Far too deeply.

When they finally separated, he smiled.

"Anne is the love of my life."

His hand settled possessively around her waist.

"I'd never leave her."

My stomach turned.

The nausea hit so suddenly I barely had time to bend over.

I vomited everything I'd eaten that night onto the marble floor.

Anne's expression changed instantly.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

She glared at me.

"You see Eric kissing me and you're so jealous you make yourself sick?"

I wiped my mouth and slowly pulled my clothes back on.

Then I laughed.

Coldly.

"You're right."

Anne blinked.

I looked around the dining room.

"Every single person here makes me sick."

My gaze settled on my parents.

"So sick I couldn't even keep dinner down."

Their faces darkened.

I said nothing else.

Instead, I waited.

The moment everyone's attention shifted back to Anne and Eric, I moved.

I rushed toward the stack of Christmas gift bags I'd brought earlier.

Mom's face changed immediately.

"Glenda!"

Dad shot to his feet.

I grabbed the largest bag.

They had already disowned me.

They had beaten me, stripped me, photographed me, and destroyed my reputation in front of everyone.

So why should I keep protecting their secrets?

Dad's voice thundered across the room.

"Glenda Moretti, if you open that bag, I swear I'll kill you!"

I looked at him.

Then I smiled.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

"Too late."

I tore the bag open.

Boxes, envelopes, documents, and several carefully wrapped items spilled across the floor.

My parents lunged toward me.

They weren't fast enough.

One by one, the relatives stopped laughing.

Their expressions changed.

Shock.

Confusion.

Then disbelief.

And at that exact moment, a violent crash shook the house.

The front doors burst inward.

Every conversation stopped.

Several Moretti men reached instinctively for the weapons beneath their jackets.

Heavy footsteps entered the foyer.

Eric turned toward the door.

The color drained from his face.

His mouth fell open.

Then his knees buckled.

He collapsed straight onto the floor.