3

Once Eleanor learned what had really happened, she was so frightened her voice shook.

She promised again and again to fix it right away. She even arranged to apologize to my daughter in person.

Every record of Chloe at St. Mary's Academy was wiped overnight.

Her face was blacked out in photo after photo on the honor wall.

Anything bearing her name was reprinted.

The whole academy was buzzing with the news: Chloe was a fraud.

And those Lorenzi boys who'd snuck her in weren't anywhere close to inheriting a thing.

When the phone rang again, the amusement in Paolo's voice was gone. "Boss, do you really have to go this far?

"Selena already has everything. It's just a title. What's wrong with letting Chloe have it?

"You're bullying a young girl. It isn't right."

I held the phone and said nothing.

My daughter had carried that girl's bag, poured water for her, and been scalded for her trouble.

Where was their sense of right and wrong then?

When I didn't answer, Paolo's voice went flat and hard. "If you won't give Chloe an explanation, don't blame us for not playing nice."

I scoffed. "Your mercy means nothing to me."

Paolo hung up on me.

But I knew he wasn't going to let it go.

I was the one who'd taught them always to have a backup plan.

I never imagined what those boys, once so devoted to us, would one day do.

They would turn every tactic I'd taught them against my daughter and me.

Marco set an auction file on my desk.

When I opened it, a familiar name jumped out at me on the first page.

The three properties and five storefronts I'd left to my daughter were all listed there.

Every one of them had been auctioned off dirt cheap and transferred into Chloe's name.

The paperwork said my daughter had signed them over voluntarily.

There were invoices, transfer agreements, and signatures. On paper, the evidence was airtight.

But every signature was unnaturally shaky.

And in the corner of one page, there were a few drops of dried blood.

My nails dug into my palms, but I couldn't feel the pain.

I'd taught them at least 100 ways to make someone sign.

I wondered which one they'd used on the little sister they used to love most.

The properties and storefronts had changed hands three months earlier.

By the time my people found out, all the paperwork was already done.

I remembered when my daughter wanted a rare doll that was no longer in production.

Joseph put his work on hold and took her from store to store looking for it.

When she had a craving for apple pie, Christian wiped the blood off his hands and went into the kitchen to bake it for her himself.

But now they were transferring everything that belonged to her to Chloe, piece by piece.

I called Joseph. "Three properties, five storefronts. You have seven days to give every one of them back."

Joseph was silent on the other end for two seconds.

"Boss, you've been out for ten years. Have you forgotten how things work around here?

"The paperwork's done. You can't just say you want it back and get it back. That's not how this works.

"Or bring Selena over now and apologize to Chloe. Chloe has a good heart. She might even leave you and Selena a roof over your heads."

My voice was flat. "This is your last chance. I'm telling you, not asking you.

"If you don't return them now, you'll be begging me to take them back."

Joseph gave a soft laugh. "Sure. We'll be waiting."

When the call ended, Marco stood off to the side, looking like he wanted to say something.

I gave him a look, and he finally spoke. "Boss, the titles have already been transferred. Taking this to court would take at least six months. If we take another route..."

I knew what he hadn't said.

A lot had changed in the ten years I'd been out of the business.

That was exactly why Joseph had grown so brazen.

But he'd forgotten the old guard was still alive.

What they owed me hadn't disappeared just because I'd stepped away for ten years.

I went back to the hospital room, touched my daughter's forehead, and tucked her hand under the blanket.

She looked a little pale.

"Mom, can we still go home?"

I smiled and nodded. "Of course we can, my little princess.

"Soon, they'll be on their knees, begging us to come home."