Chapter 2

A sleek black stretch Lincoln rolled up to collect us. I was about to climb in, my tight dress hugging my curves. But Samuel subtly blocked my path before anyone else noticed.

Samuel kept his voice low, but his words cut deep. "Look at yourself. Dressed like some cheap bar floozy. God knows what diseases you've picked up in that dive.

"And now Charlotte's been crying all night because of you.

"Just wait here. Say you don't want to ride with us. I'll have the butler send another car. It'll still be luxury, so don't act like you're being slighted."

I glanced at the Lovett family, all settled inside the car, and then checked the time on my phone.

Three in the morning, and Samuel wanted me to stand outside the bar and wait for another ride. How fucking thoughtful.

I couldn't help but wonder if this was his idea, or if it was Charlotte pulling the strings behind the scenes.

With a wicked smirk, I rapped my knuckles against the tinted window.

The glass slid down to reveal Edward's concerned face. "Jessie? Everything okay? Why standing there?"

I flashed him my sweetest smile, feeling Samuel's glare burning into my back. "Oh, the car's gorgeous. I just wanted to check. Is there some special requirement to ride in it?"

I tilted my head innocently. "Because someone seems to think I'm not... qualified."

The mental laugh almost escaped me. This privileged brat thought he could play mind games with me? Please.

I was raised in the gutter, not some gilded cage.

I couldn't wait to see how he'd handle real venom.

"Samuel, what nonsense are you spouting?" Edward shot him a sharp frown. "Jessie is your sister."

"A sister like that? I don't—" Samuel grumbled, but quickly shut up when Edward fixed him with that icy glare.

"Samuel, Edward's right," Charlotte piped up, leaning out of the car with that sickeningly sweet voice of hers. "You can't just say whatever you want to people."

She turned those doe eyes on me. "I'm so sorry, Jessie. Samuel's always been the baby of the family. He never learned to think before he speaks. Don't be mad at him."

She punctuated this with a cutesy tongue poke, like we were all just playing some harmless game.

Then she snuggled back into Mandy's arms, looking at me with wide, scared eyes, like I was some kind of villain straight out of a nightmare.

I rolled my eyes. If she was really so innocent, she'd have actually called Samuel out instead of taking this passive-aggressive swipe at me.

"Well, look at that," I said, forcing a smirk. "Miss Lovett really can read minds. Didn't say a word about being mad, but she's already decided I'm holding a grudge. No wonder you're the golden child."

I let the words "golden child" drip with sarcasm.

Charlotte totally lost it, and tears started streaming down her face right away.

She choked out between sobs, "Jessie, don't get me wrong, I just—"

"Oh, cut the crap," I snapped. "Save the tragic heroine act for someone who cares."

I leaned in, my voice going razor-sharp. "And knock off the crying. What exactly do you have to cry about? You've had everything handed to you on a silver platter. If you were me, we'd need flood insurance."

Compared to the cushy life Charlotte's had, my last twenty years were straight-up hell.

I'd been half-starved, wearing secondhand clothes that never fit right. Without my mom, I'd probably be trapped in some backwater village pumping out babies for some loser husband by now and pray for an end to my sufferings.

Tears? Please. They were just weapons for people who'd never had real problems.

The second the words left my mouth, Charlotte's sobs cut off like someone hit mute. She went rigid in her mother Mandy's arms.

Everyone froze, and Samuel went white as a sheet. He backed off real quick, not daring to block me anymore.

Finally, I got into the car, and there was only dead silence.

After a long, heavy silence, Mandy finally spoke, her eyes lowered as she looked at me.

She smiled, "Jessie, Charlotte didn't do it on purpose. She's always been timid and overly sensitive since she was little. She feels guilty about it. Try to be more forgiving."

Joseph echoed her, "Jessie, she's just afraid of being abandoned, but she means no harm. Try not to hold it against her.

"But look at yourself—smoking and dressed so provocatively. We let it go before. But now that you're back with us, you've got to clean up your act. Take a page from Charlotte's book, understand?"

Samuel muttered, "Yeah, Charlotte's the role model in our circle. Everyone says she's so gentle and refined."

One after another, they piled on, pretending to give me some kind of heartfelt advice. But really, every word out of their mouths was just another excuse to worship Charlotte—another not-so-subtle dig at how I'd never be the perfect daughter they actually wanted.

But why should I have to become the daughter they dreamed of? They never spent a single day with me.

I curled my lips into a cold smile and let out a bitter laugh. "I wish I could be as good as her, but my real parents were never there for me. I never had anyone to show me the ropes.

"Oh, and before I was 'Jessie', my name was Charlie. That's what Linda, the woman who swapped me at birth, decided to call me. Any guesses what that was supposed to mean?

"I'm sure you've dug into Linda by now. She dumped me in the middle of nowhere, left me starving in rags."

Charlotte's real mother Linda was the reason my life turned into a nightmare.

The silence was deafening. Mandy went sheet-white. Even Samuel—Mr. Never-Shuts-Up—clamped his mouth shut. For the first time, something like guilt flickered in his eyes.

Clearly, they knew a lot more of the truth than they'd ever admit.