17. Failing At Parenting. 

RAINE’S POV

The first thing I registered was the constant buzzing of my phone. My groggy brain barely processed it before my eyes cracked open, squinting against the morning light filtering through my curtains.

Ugh. Who in their right mind was calling this early?

I fumbled around, grabbed my phone from under my pillow, and saw a string of missed calls from Chloe, the only person I had close to a friend from high school. That woke me up fast. Chloe only blew up my phone like this when something was on fire—sometimes literally.

“What?” I answered, in a slow tone.

“Since when do you have a stepbrother?” Chloe’s sharp voice cut through the line.

My brain short-circuited. I sat up too fast, the sheets tangling around my legs. “What are you yapping about?”

She scoffed. “Oh, so you don’t know that every gossip blog from here to hell is posting about Cyril’s secret son?”

“What?” My heart lurched into my throat.

“You need to check the blogs. Like, now.” The way she said it made me end the call