Chapter 6: It's Originally Mine, How Is It Stealing?

A deep sigh escaped Hayden as he rubbed his temples.

It had been Olivia’s idea to keep Isabella's identity a secret, all for Bianca’s sake. Hayden had agreed, seeing no harm in it at the time. He’d assumed Isabella was fine with the arrangement. Why the sudden change of heart?

“In your dreams,” Olivia snapped, her face tightening. “Isabella, do you have any idea what it takes to be a socialite? Look at that makeup. You’ll frighten the guests.”

Isabella nonchalantly brushed her cheek. “That’s a minor detail. My face looks just fine without it.”

“Such vanity,” Olivia breathed, taking a sharp inhale. “Isabella, listen to me. You are my daughter, but the Taylor family can only have one recognized daughter. If we announce who you are, what happens to Bianca? She was devastated enough to learn she wasn't our biological child. Announcing it publicly would crush her. She’d feel completely abandoned.”

Olivia finished with a firm command. “So be a good girl and don’t compete with Bianca.”

Bianca, standing nearby, visibly relaxed. For a moment, she had been terrified.

Gabriel glared at Isabella, his disgust plain. “Is that all you know how to do? Take? Can you even handle what you’re asking for?”

Isabella met his hostile gaze, her eyes lifting slightly. “How is it ‘taking’ when it was mine to begin with?” she retorted coolly. “You claim you wanted me back, but all you expect is for me to bend and compromise? What sense does that make? If you don’t really want me here, just send me back to the mountains. It’s not like I’m gaining anything by staying.”

Hayden frowned. When had his timid daughter become so sharp-tongued?

“What do you want, Isabella?” he asked, his voice heavy with fatigue. Her words, though defiant, held a kernel of truth. She was his biological daughter, a young girl who had been brought down from the mountains. It was understandable she’d be upset if she felt she was getting nothing.

Isabella considered for a moment, then a small, deliberate smile touched her lips. “I want Bianca’s room.”

She added with a pout, “The room you gave me is too small. I don’t like it.”

“Absolutely not!” Olivia’s refusal was instant. “There are dozens of rooms in this house. Why must you have Bianca’s?”

Leaning casually against the doorframe, Isabella said, “Because it’s spacious and bright. I like it.”

“That’s absurd!” Gabriel exploded. “Of course her room is spacious and bright! That doesn’t make it yours!” He would never let her take Bianca’s room.

Olivia’s eyes narrowed. “You can have any room you want. Except that one.”

The Taylor Villa had plenty of rooms, but when Isabella first arrived, Bianca’s dramatic tears had stirred a deep resentment in Olivia. She had deliberately given Isabella the smallest, most remote room in the house. Isabella had seemed so meek and obedient then, accepting the arrangement without a word. Olivia had justified it to herself—for a girl from the mountains, even that small room was an upgrade.

But Isabella had apparently grown a spine.

“No,” Isabella said, her brow furrowed with unyielding determination. “I want Bianca’s room.”

“Are you serious?” Gabriel shouted. “That’s Bianca’s room. Why should she give it to you?”

“What?” Isabella laughed, a dry, humorless sound. “What do you mean, it’s Bianca’s? Wasn’t that room originally prepared for me?”

“Prepared for you?” Gabriel scoffed. “Who do you think you are? That room was decorated for Bianca!”

Isabella ignored him, turning her gaze to Hayden. “Dad, when was that room decorated?”

Hayden struggled to recall. “Around the time your mother was pregnant, I believe.” The flooring, the wall color—it had all been designed for a baby girl.

“So,” Isabella said, her voice laced with indignation, “while I was still in Mom’s womb, you prepared that room for me. Which means Bianca is squatting in my room. She’s taken what’s mine!”

Hayden was speechless. Isabella had said more in the last five minutes than in the entire month she’d been here, and he couldn’t find a single flaw in her logic. They had prepared that room for their expected daughter.

Isabella then locked eyes with Bianca. “I didn’t mind you borrowing it while I was away. But I’m back now. It’s time to return it.”

Her confident tone made Bianca feel like a cornered thief. Her face paled. How could Isabella say she was just ‘borrowing’ it?

Biting her lip, tears instantly welled in her eyes. “Isabella’s right,” she whispered tragically. “I’m not their real daughter. Now that she’s back, I should give everything back to her… I don’t belong here…”

Isabella shot her a cool glance. “At least you’re self-aware, thief.”

Bianca froze, staring in disbelief before her sobs intensified. The insult was so blunt, so cruel. She felt utterly wronged.

As Bianca’s heartbreaking cries filled the room, a faint smirk played on Isabella’s lips. “Bianca, you can’t have both. The title of Miss Taylor, or my room. Pick one. If you insist on keeping my room, then give me back my title.”

Bianca went rigid, her tear-streaked face turning pleadingly to Hayden. “Dad!”

Hayden rubbed his temples again, the pressure building behind his eyes. “Bianca, move your things tomorrow. The room goes to Isabella.”

Gabriel erupted. “Dad! Why should Bianca have to give up her room?”

“What’s your alternative?” Hayden shot back, his patience gone. “Do you want your sister to go back to the mountains? She’s made her choice clear. I can’t give her the title, but I can damn well give her a room.”