THREE

Chapter 3

Tatiana remembered that night all too well.

That afternoon, the Kensington estate was celebrating Dylan’s seventeenth birthday. Friends of both Dylan and Ethan had been invited to the party, including Tatiana’s fiancé, Matthew Caldwell.

At first, everything was perfectly fine. Everyone was enjoying themselves until Oktavia approached Tatiana with her friends.

“What is a servant doing here? Shouldn’t you be serving us drinks instead?” Sienna, Oktavia’s best friend, sneered with a mocking smile.

Sienna, Phoebe, and Oktavia were all in the same class at the same high school. They had always assumed that Oktavia was the true daughter of the Kensington family, not Tatiana. They believed Tatiana was merely an illegitimate child Oliver had taken in out of pity, and they bullied her relentlessly without ever knowing the truth.

It wasn’t that Tatiana didn’t want to tell them who she really was.

But the harder she tried to speak the truth, the worse the torment and bullying became.

And whenever she complained to her brothers, Ethan and Dylan, they simply accused her of being spoiled and told her to learn how to stand up for herself.

Tatiana refused to respond to Oktavia’s friends.

She hadn’t even wanted to attend the party, but her father had forced her to come so he could display their supposed “family harmony”in front of the guests.

When Tatiana finally stood up to leave, Oktavia caught her by the arm.

“Where are you going, Sister?” Oktavia asked sweetly. “Didn’t you hear what my friend said? You’re supposed to serve us. Hurry up and bring us some drinks.”

Tatiana frowned.

“Why should I?” she asked flatly. “Don’t you have hands to get them yourself?”

She hated being treated like a servant by anyone, especially Oktavia and her friends.

“I said you have to serve them!”

Oktavia suddenly reached out to shove Tatiana.

But Tatiana had already anticipated the move.

She quickly stepped to the side, causing Oktavia to lose her balance and tumble onto the garden stones.

Her knees and palms were scraped badly enough to draw blood.

Oktavia screamed hysterically, instantly drawing everyone’s attention, including Ethan, Dylan, and Matthew. They all rushed over to help her.

“What happened?”

Matthew moved the fastest, immediately wrapping an arm protectively around Oktavia’s waist. His eyes swept sharply over Oktavia’s friends before settling on Tatiana.

“Tatiana pushed Oktavia!” Phoebe, another one of Oktavia’s friends, exclaimed.

“I didn’t. She fell on her own,” Tatiana defended herself.

“How could she possibly fall on her own? Oktavia isn’t clumsy!” Dylan snapped, immediately coming to her defense.

“She tried to push me, but she missed and lost her balance,” Tatiana said honestly.

But neither of her brothers nor Matthew believed her.

Three against one.

Who was going to win?

“Enough. Tiana didn’t do anything wrong. I was just careless,” Oktavia said, deliberately letting out a pained whimper as she clutched the front of Matthew’s shirt.

“Tiana, you’ve gone too far! This is my birthday party. How could you cause a scene like this?!” Dylan growled angrily.

“I didn’t do anything! I’ve been sitting here the entire time and haven’t bothered anyone. She and her friends were the ones who came over to me!”

“That’s not true! We weren’t bothering her. We came over because we wanted to get to know her better, but she rejected us and immediately pushed Oktavia!” Sienna deliberately appealed to Ethan, knowing full well that he was the one most likely to punish Tatiana severely.

“Enough. We should treat her injuries first. We don’t want them to leave scars,” Matthew interrupted.

He turned around while keeping his arm around Oktavia’s waist, completely ignoring Tatiana and refusing to believe his own fiancée’s explanation.

The man who had grown up beside her, the man who had promised to marry her when they were older, was now siding completely with Oktavia.

Tatiana’s heart shattered into pieces.

When she tried to step toward Matthew and demand justice, Dylan and Ethan immediately blocked her path.

“Stop causing trouble, Tiana! Remember, this is my birthday party. I don’t want another disaster because of you!” Dylan shouted.

Behind her brothers, Sienna and Phoebe exchanged sly, satisfied smiles.

“Why can’t you just accept your place, Tiana?” Sienna whispered as she walked past Tatiana. 

“Ethan, Dylan, and Matthew... not one of them will ever believe you. They all love Oktavia 

more. So why don’t you just give up? Being Oktavia’s servant suits you much better.”

“You’re no longer Mr. Kensington’s favorite daughter, so why work so hard just to get his attention?” Phoebe added in a low whisper.

“You both knew from the beginning that I was the real Kensington daughter?”

It wasn’t a question.

It was a statement.