Chapter 1

Seven years after I cut ties with the Lane family, Victoria Lane showed up at the project site with Chloe Lane in tow.

I was sitting on a crate near the construction zone, picking through a styrofoam takeout box.

Victoria spotted me through the crowd almost instantly.

She stopped right in front of me, her gaze fixed on the greasy container in my hands. Her eyes turned red.

Her voice trembled. "Emily, you used to be the pickiest eater I knew. How can you eat this kind of stuff?"

I stood up and gave her a polite smile. "The crew loves this food truck. Big portions, tons of meat."

I tilted the container toward her. "Look, they even threw in some shrimp."

Her expression went rigid. Tears spilled down her cheeks.

Her voice cracked. "You're still holding it against us, aren't you?"

*****

I offered a polite smile. "Mrs. Lane, you're overthinking this."

She was a stranger to me. Strangers weren't worth hating.

I finished the last bite of my food, tossed the empty container into the trash, and gave a brief nod before turning to leave.

Chloe caught my wrist. "Emily."

She wore a cream-colored designer suit that looked completely out of place on a dusty construction site.

Her gaze drifted to Victoria, and her voice thickened with emotion. "Mom and Dad have missed you all these years."

She swallowed hard. "Especially Dad. He's been worried sick over you, and his health keeps getting worse." Her eyes glistened. "Emily, please. Just come home and see him."

I let out a quiet laugh and gently pulled my hand free. "Ms. Lane, you must be joking. You're the only daughter of the Lane family. I wouldn't dare claim any connection to the Lanes."

I kept my tone even. "I'm sorry to hear about Mr. Lane's condition. Please remind him to take care of himself."

I turned to leave.

Victoria called after me, her voice tight with desperation. "Emily, will you show me around the site?"

I stopped and looked back at her, my expression calm. "Mrs. Lane, my name is Ashely Hills. My shift is over. If you'd like a tour, someone else here can help you with that."

I turned and walked away without another word, heading back to the workers' dormitory.

My coworker, Katie Smith, leaned against the windowsill, watching Victoria and Chloe walk away.

She let out a sigh. "Same age, totally different lives. She get to stroll around looking like a million bucks while we're stuck here doing backbreaking labor, covered in dust."

She paused mid-sentence, then turned to look at me. "Oh, hey, Ashely. What was that all about earlier? They were all crowded around you. I swear I saw Mrs. Lane crying. Do they know you or something?"

Seven years passed. If I hadn't run into them today, I might have forgotten their names entirely.

I offered a faint smile. "They probably just thought I looked like someone they knew. Mistaken identity."

Katie gave a half-hearted "huh," clearly unconvinced, but she didn't push it.

Victoria and Chloe climbed into the Bentley and drove off without looking back.

Katie watched them go, her voice full of longing. "God, can you imagine being a Lane? Must be nice."

I pulled my gaze from the window. My expression didn't change.

A long time ago, I used to believe the same thing. That being a daughter of the Lane family was the luckiest thing in the world.

*****

Richard, Victoria, and Emily. The three of us shared the last name, Lane.

My grandma, Pauline Lane, used to say that three Lanes together made a perfect triangle, steady and complete.

And they named me Emily.

Everything changed when I was sixteen. Richard brought a girl home.

Back then, she still went by Chloe Lewis. She was the daughter of one of Richard's army buddies.

Richard put his hand on my shoulder and introduced her. "Emily, this is Chloe Lewis. Her dad served with me overseas. Saved my life out there."

His voice softened. "She's got no family left. From now on, she's your little sister, okay? I need you to look after her."

I looked at the timid little girl hiding behind him and nodded hard.

She was the daughter of the man who saved my father's life. I swore I would treat her with everything I had.

I learned the truth soon enough. I never needed to try that hard.

Because from the day Chloe arrived, every ounce of love and attention from Richard and Victoria shifted to her.

Chloe was allergic to shellfish.

So my favorite dish, shrimp scampi, vanished from our dinner table for good.

Richard shrugged it off. "Emily, we're done making that. Don't want Chloe feeling left out watching you eat it."

On my birthdays, there was always an extra gift wrapped for Chloe.

Victoria waved it away. "Chloe's sensitive. We don't want her feeling overlooked."

But what about Chloe's birthday?

The year she turned eighteen, the three of them went on vacation without me.

I stayed home alone in the empty house.

Richard called from the road. "You've already been to all these places. Chloe wanted a real family trip for her birthday. Don't go making the birthday girl feel bad."

I cried into the phone, trying to tell them how unfair it was. Then Chloe's voice cut through the background.

"Mom! Dad! Come take pictures!"

The line went dead. I cried alone the entire night.

Richard and Victoria came home a few days later. They saw my swollen red eyes and made a promise. They would throw me a huge graduation party, a celebration I would never forget.