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The Girl They Brought Home Replaced Me 10
Kaia’s POVAdam gave me the most extravagant wedding I could have imagined. The kind of event tabloids whispered about and the old me could never have dreamed of.Then I got pregnant. A boy.It was a surprise—at my age, I didn’t think it was still possible. But there he was. Soft, beautiful, with Adam’s eyes and my quiet.When he turned one, Adam threw a massive birthday party. Everyone came. Even the Renners.Adam let them in.Asher had aged even more since I last saw him. His shoulders were hunched, and his eyes had dimmed.Noah came in a wheelchair. Jace looked like hell—wasted and worn.They didn’t speak to me. They just left a small gift near the table. The card said, ‘May you have the most wonderful, most perfect life.’I didn’t bring it home. I left it sitting near the trash bin.Because some gifts, when they come too late, aren’t gifts at all. They’re apologies dressed in paper. And I wasn’t interested in apologies anymore.…A few months later, Adam told me Noah was dying.He
The Girl They Brought Home Replaced Me 9
Kaia’s POVIt had been ten years since I joined the Orman Group.In that time, the formulas I’d developed helped them generate hundreds of billions in profit. Entire markets were reshaped because of my work. I was no longer a secret chemist hiding behind a lab door—I was their prized asset.And I was also Adam Orman’s girlfriend.He told me he fell in love with me the first time he saw me. Maybe that was true. Maybe not. But being his meant I was given things most in the organization never got—freedom and security.Thanks to Adam, I didn’t have to stay in Mexico full-time. I could travel. Often, he’d simply ask where I wanted to go next—and then take me there.But because of who he was—and what the Orman Group was—we always traveled under the radar. Quiet flights. Unmarked reservations.For the ten-year anniversary of my work with Orman, Adam decided to take me to France.“France is especially beautiful in the winter,” he said.Funny—someone else had once told me that. Sylvie.She’d s
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Asher’s POVI closed my eyes for a second. When I opened them, I saw Sylvie. She was standing at the front gate, lingering like she had something to hide.Sylvie. It all started when I brought her home.The threats came shortly after Ary died. Anonymous messages. Warnings. Demands. Protect Sylvie, or Kaia pays the price.And now I couldn’t stop wondering—what if I hadn’t brought Sylvie home? What if I hadn’t believed I could manage both? Protect Kaia, run the empire, keep everything from falling apart?Would Kaia still be here?Sylvie slipped out into the dark, disappearing behind the hedges.I frowned. Suspicion prickled through me. So I followed.It wasn’t long before I heard voices—low, angry.“You don’t get to threaten me,” Sylvie hissed. “I gave you what you asked for!”“And now I want more,” another woman snapped. “Or I’ll tell them the truth—that you’re not Ary’s daughter. That you threatened to turn them in. You want to keep playing innocent? Pay up.”“They won’t believe you. N
The Girl They Brought Home Replaced Me 7
Asher’s POVShe offered herself as their chemist,” I said, forcing the words out. “Youngest on record.”Noah said nothing. He knew what it meant too. If Kaia had truly joined the Orman Group, she was gone. Even if she lived, she could never come back.My mind reeled. How had we let it come to this? How had the girl I once carried on my shoulders slipped so far away I didn’t even notice she was leaving?And worse—why did she feel she had to?A cold, hollow ache burrowed into my chest.Noah stood abruptly. “I’m going to Mexico.”“What?”“I’m going to talk to Adam Orman. I don’t care what it takes. She’s our sister.”“I already spoke to him,” I said, my voice low. “It was almost impossible to bring her back now. And I was afraid we would piss Adam off and he would do something to her. So we have to stay calm.”But Noah wasn’t hearing me. He was already beyond reason.“How could you be so calm!!! She is our sister! Even I dies, I will bring her back,” he snapped, voice rising. “Asher. You
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Asher’s POVI sat in my study, phone clutched in one hand, staring at the screen like it might blink back at me.Kaia still wasn’t answering. Still. Straight to voicemail—again and again.I hated the idea of hiring a private investigator to find my own sister. But at this point, I had no choice.I exhaled sharply and tapped the screen. “Jackson.”“Mr. Renner.”“I need you to find someone for me.”“Of course. Sylvie?”The assumption made something in my chest twist. “No,” I said tightly. “My sister Kaia Renner.”There was a pause on the other end. “…Right. Of course. Give me thirty minutes. I’ll call back with what I find.”I hung up and headed for the shower, trying to scrub the tension off my skin.Kaia, it couldn’t be anything bad. She was strong. Smart. Tough as nails. Always had been.…When Jackson called back, it wasn’t the certainty in his voice I was used to. “Mr. Renner… I have her location. I think. But it’s… unusual.”Jackson never hesitated.“What happened?” I demanded. “Di
The Girl They Brought Home Replaced Me 5
Asher’s POVWe'd only been in France three days when Noah started mumbling about heading home.Truthfully, I was thinking the same.Something about this trip—it didn’t sit right. We were laughing, drinking while Kaia was alone. Buried in her lab.But Sylvie didn’t want to leave. She said she wanted to spend New Year’s Eve here too.“I—” Noah began, but I cut him off.As the oldest, my word had weight. Even Sylvie rarely pushed back when I spoke.“Sylvie,” I said gently, “I still have some business waiting. It’s best if we leave tomorrow.”Her face dimmed. She didn’t argue—but the disappointment in her eyes was unmistakable.“I’m sorry,” I added, reaching out to ruffle her hair. “We can come back anytime, I promise. As long as I’m free.”But she didn’t smile. “You promised we’d stay until New Year’s Eve,” she whispered.And she was right. I had promised. Back when I thought Kaia would be coming too.But she didn’t. And now I missed home too.“Sylvie,” I tried again, searching for a diff
