Chapter 2

I was quick to act. By dinnertime, I'd already calculated the second debt. "Whitney owns fifty-two luxury handbags, eighty pieces of designer jewelry and necklaces, and five luxury watches.

"She also has forty-seven haute couture suits and gowns, and a supercar registered in her name.

"At market value, that comes to over 98.2 million dollars. I'll give you the family discount and round it down. Just pay me 98 million dollars."

Whitney bit down hard on her lip, her expression growing darker by the second.

Mom slammed her plate down in anger. "We bought those things for Whitney because we wanted to! What right do you have to demand money from her?"

Dad pounded the table, heartbroken. "Crazy. She's absolutely crazy. Did you come back just to bleed your own family dry?"

Whitney threw herself into Sean's arms, looking wronged.

Sean looked at me like I was garbage. "Whitney is sensitive and kind. Do you have any idea how upset and guilty you're making her feel?

"What you should be doing right now is finding a way to make us love you a little more, not picking on Whitney again and again."

Watching them act like they wanted to tear me apart, the smile in my eyes turned colder. "Whitney said it herself. She took my place, and she should pay it back.

"Honestly, if you'd spent that 98 million dollars chasing down leads to bring me home sooner, Whitney would never have entered the picture at all."

Too bad they hadn't done that.

All these years, they'd doted on their adopted Whitney and forgotten all about me.

If the county records office hadn't run a database search and connected me with the McGraws while cross-checking residency records, they never would have known their biological daughter was still alive.

"Whitney spent the money that should have been spent on me, and I suffered out there for eighteen extra years because of it. Is it really so much to ask for it back now?"

Mom and Dad froze, a flicker of guilt crossing their faces.

Sean's face darkened. "Anne, you keep hurting Whitney. Isn't this all just about money?

"I'll give you a hundred million dollars in one lump sum! Consider it the price of buying out our relationship. From now on, I'll act like I never had a sister like you!"

Sean had flown off the handle, but I stayed calm and unhurried. "One thing at a time. First, pay back the 98 million dollars. Buying out our relationship is a separate price. And it's very expensive."

The McGraws were worth over ten billion dollars. Did they really think a measly hundred million would get rid of me?

Not a chance.

Mom and Dad kept shaking their heads, convinced I was beyond saving.

To protect Whitney, Sean actually wrote me a check, and a perfectly good one at that. "Is that enough? Stop hurting Whitney's feelings."

Watching me rake in a fortune the moment I got home, Whitney turned green. She hid the jealousy in her eyes, turned around, and called her fiancé, Connor Wilde.

"Anne says I stole her fiancé. It's all my fault. I hurt her...

"Let's call off the engagement. I wish you and Anne a long and happy marriage."

Less than half an hour later, Connor stormed over in a rage.