Chapter 2

I returned to my room before the last guests had left.

I took off my heels and sat on the edge of the bed, trying not to think about how easily everyone had walked out on me.

My phone lit up.

Isabella: Happy birthday, sweetheart! Did my package arrive? Grant insisted the silver bracelet was too plain, but I told him you would love it.

I glanced at the little velvet box on my desk. Isabella had chosen a slender bracelet engraved with my initials. She remembered that I disliked anything heavy around my wrists.

Me: It arrived. I love it. Thank you.

Isabella: Good! Grant can stop worrying now. We hope you had a wonderful birthday.

I read her message twice. Isabella and Grant had supported me since middle school, when I was still living in an orphanage. They paid my tuition and showed up at award ceremonies when no one else came. At sixteen, they asked if I wanted to become their daughter.

I refused. I'd spent too many years imagining the day my real parents would find me.

Isabella had hugged me anyway. She'd said that if I ever needed something, I could ask her for one wish, no questions asked.

Me: Does that wish you promised me still count?

Her reply arrived immediately.

Isabella: Of course. What is it, sweetheart?

I stared at the screen. Downstairs, someone laughed, and I remembered Mother rushing after Sienna without even looking back.

Me: I'm not ready to tell you yet.

Isabella: That's all right. Whenever you're ready, we're here.

A knock interrupted me.

"Mom wants you downstairs," Adrian called through the door.

I put my phone away and followed him to the sitting room.

Sienna was stretched out on the sofa with a blanket over her knees.

Julian, my second brother and the Family's private physician, had apparently decided she was well enough to come home.

Mother was holding her hand. Nolan stood nearby, looking annoyed before I'd even spoken.

"Paige," Mother began, "I want you to apologize to your sister."

"For what?"

Nolan threw up his hands. "Here we go again."

"I need to know what I did wrong," I said. "Was it asking for my seat, or explaining why I wanted it?"

"You upset her in front of everyone," Mother replied.

"Sienna moved my place card before I arrived. Did anyone ask her to apologize?"

Sienna pushed herself upright. "I am sorry. I never wanted to ruin your birthday."

"Then why did you move my card?"

She lowered her eyes. Mother immediately squeezed her hand.

"Enough," Adrian said. He placed a small jewelry box in front of me. "We planned to give you this after dinner. Maybe we can all put tonight behind us."

Inside was a pearl necklace, expensive enough that I hesitated to touch it. I thanked him, then noticed the blue pendant resting against Sienna's throat.

I'd seen it before, in a photograph Mother showed me the week our DNA results came back. A sapphire set in gold, with the Valenti crest carved on the back. Grandmother had ordered it for me when I was born, Mother said, and kept it safe after I disappeared.

"Is that Grandma's pendant?" I asked.

Sienna touched it instinctively.

Mother glanced at the necklace. "I let Sienna wear it when she was eighteen. She'd been terribly ill, and I thought it might bring her some comfort."

"But you told me it was mine."

"It is, darling. It's only a necklace."

"Then when will she give it back?"

Sienna reached behind her neck. "I'll take it off. I don't want Paige to be upset."

Mother stopped her. "You've worn it for years. There is no need to make yourself miserable over a piece of jewelry."

I closed the box Adrian had given me.

"I'm not asking for a more expensive present. I'm asking about the one Grandma left me."

Mother's face tightened. "We thought we'd lost you forever, Paige. Do you expect us to have kept everything untouched?"

"No. But you've known I'm alive for three years."

Nobody had an answer. Adrian looked toward Father, who had just entered the room.

"What now?" Vincent asked.

Nolan spoke first. "Paige's making a fuss about Sienna's necklace."

"Grandma left it to me," I corrected.

Father gave the pendant a brief glance. "We'll discuss it another time. There is something more important."

He loosened his tie and sat down opposite me.

"Your welcome-home party is in two days. I've invited our relatives and the heads of several Families we work with. We'll finally give you the proper welcome we promised."

For a moment, I forgot the necklace.

When I first arrived at the estate, Father had promised a gathering to welcome me home. It was postponed when a shipment went missing, then again when Sienna got sick. After that, there was always something more urgent.

"It's really happening?" I asked.

"All the arrangements are made."

I looked around the room. "Will everyone be there?"

"Of course," Mother said.

"Adrian?"

"Yes."

"Julian?"

He nodded. "I'll be there."

"Nolan?"

He rolled his eyes. "Do you need it in writing?"

"Not if you'll keep your word." I turned to Father. "And you?"

"I'm hosting the party, Paige."

I took a breath. "Then please don't leave halfway through because Sienna feels unwell. If she's sick, Julian can help her. I just want one evening when everyone stays."

Sienna looked wounded, but I didn't take the words back.

Father studied me for a moment.

"Fine. I promise. No one will leave."

I wanted to believe him. Despite everything, some part of me still wanted to walk into a room and find my family waiting for me.

"Okay," I said.

Back upstairs, I looked at the bracelet on my desk, then at the empty space beside it where Grandmother's pendant should have been.

Two days.

I would give the Valentis one last chance.