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Chapter 3

Auteur: Tea Everywhere
I followed a terrified Becca straight through the operating room ceiling and drifted up to the VIP suites.

The door to Lillian's room stood slightly open. Cheerful laughter floated into the hall.

Lillian was propped against a mountain of pillows in brand-new silk pajamas, watching television. Her arm had been wrapped in the finest dressing the hospital could offer. Mom had even ordered a calming diffuser for the room so Lillian wouldn't get worked up again.

Dad sat beside the bed with a small, elegant fruit knife, painstakingly picking every seed out of a bowl of watermelon.

"Daddy, this isn't sweet enough. I don't want it."

Lillian pushed the bowl away with a pout.

Dad set it aside immediately and went to wash his hands.

"Then you don't have to eat it, sweetheart. What would you like instead? I'll have someone bring it up."

Lillian's eyes darted around. Then her expression turned worried.

"I want Anna's lemon-pepper wings. But she still hasn't come to see me. Do you think she's angry?

"This is all my fault. I kept insisting that Anna come out with us. If I hadn't, we wouldn't have been attacked. And Mom and Dad wouldn't have had to leave work to rescue us."

A few perfectly timed tears slipped down her cheeks.

"If something happened to Anna, I'd never forgive myself."

Mom pulled Lillian into her arms and stroked her back.

"Don't talk nonsense. This is your sister's fault, not yours!

"She's your older sister. Protecting you is her responsibility. She failed you, and you got hurt. If she got shot too, she brought it on herself."

Mom gave a disgusted snort.

"Besides, I checked. Nothing vital was hit. She's not going to die. She's just jealous, and she talked Warren into putting on a show for us.

"I already sent Alan down to see her. Just wait until she comes up here. She'll hear exactly what I think of this stunt."

Becca stood frozen outside the door, unable to bring herself to interrupt.

She drew a deep breath. Finally, she knocked.

"Don DeMarco? Donna DeMarco? Anna is in surgery, and her condition is very serious.

"She has a tension pneumothorax and severe internal bleeding. The doctor needs you to come downstairs."

The laughter stopped.

Mom came to the doorway and stared down at Becca, her gaze cold enough to freeze someone solid.

"You have the nerve to lie to us for Anna?"

Becca wrung her hands, her voice shaking.

"Donna DeMarco, I'm not lying! The doctor is trying to save her. Anna has already gone into cardiac arrest twice!"

Dad strode over and kicked Becca aside.

"How much did Anna pay you to play along with this?

"Tell that ungrateful girl the harder she tries to manipulate us, the less likely we are to come see her.

"Lillian needs rest. Get out, and don't disturb her again!"

Becca hit the floor.

From the bed, Lillian curled up as though the commotion had terrified her. She burst into tears.

"Mommy, she's so loud. My head hurts."

Mom rushed to wrap her in her arms and called over the doctor waiting nearby to examine her.

Then she muttered, "I should never have let Alan go downstairs. Lillian needs him far more."

She turned back toward the doorway.

"I don't believe Anna could possibly die from this. How dare she joke about something so serious? When we get home, she's going to be punished.

"Why are you still here? Get out!"

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  • Too Strong to Save   Chapter 8

    Yes. They could have saved me.But they chose Lillian.After Alan changed her dressing, Lillian came downstairs carrying a pink suitcase.Pink had always been my favorite color. Once, I'd asked Mom and Dad to buy me one just like it."You're the Don's daughter," they'd said. "What will people think if you carry something pink? They'll assume you're weak and easy to push around."But a pink suitcase was never what made me vulnerable.Their neglect did. Their endless preference for Lillian did. Those were the things that taught everyone I could be pushed aside without consequence.Lillian approached my parents with her usual wounded, delicate expression. Tears shone in her eyes, ready to fall."Mom, Dad, this is all my fault. If I hadn't been hurt, you wouldn't have treated me first. Anna wouldn't have missed her chance to be saved."I'm grateful for everything you've done raising me. But I'm old enough now, and I think I should move out and live on my own."I failed Anna. I'm

  • Too Strong to Save   Chapter 7

    Dad was so worried that Mom would make herself ill with grief that he finally insisted she leave my bedroom.Nora, who'd always looked after me, hurried after them with a folder."Don DeMarco, Miss Anna treasured this for a very long time."I think you ought to see it."It was the business proposal I'd written when I was preparing to move to Port Calloway.Dad read it carefully, page by page. Tears kept slipping down his cheeks.He'd cried more in the last two days than I'd seen him cry in all my eighteen years.Mom sat beside him."Ryder," she whispered, "our daughter was so talented. We never knew.""She was," he said. "Look at this plan. It's better than anything I've ever planned."He pointed to a passage."She even accounted for this. Every detail."She was careful and brilliant. How did we never notice?"The fragile calm Mom had managed to regain collapsed again.Her voice grew hoarse as she cried my name over and over."Anna... Anna..."Please come back. If you c

  • Too Strong to Save   Chapter 6

    I didn't turn back. I floated straight out of the room.It wasn't as though she could see me.By the time they brought my body home, it was the following morning. Black mourning ribbons hung inside and outside the mansion.The house that had once seemed warm was now solemn and silent. The servants moved carefully, speaking in whispers, afraid of upsetting my parents.Nora, the housekeeper who usually cared for me, had hidden herself in my bedroom to cry.Dad and Mom sat on the living room sofa, looking hollowed out.Their eyes moved around the room.The dolls on the couch belonged to Lillian. The toys on the dining table belonged to Lillian too. Even the family portrait hanging on the wall didn't include me.Dad grew angrier with every object he noticed."Someone get in here! Who removed all of Anna's things?"Put everything back where it belongs!"The butler approached with his head bowed."Don DeMarco, Miss Anna's belongings were never displayed in the common rooms."She

  • Too Strong to Save   Chapter 5

    Dad's fury froze on his face, as if someone had hit pause.He stared at the name printed on the death certificate, his eyes widening in disbelief."Alan, this isn't something you joke about. You're a doctor. How can you make a patient's life the punch line?"Alan held the paper closer."Don DeMarco, it isn't a joke. I'm informing you officially."Dad snatched the certificate from his hand. His fingers trembled so badly that he crumpled the page."No. That's impossible. How could this happen?"Anna has always been strong. It was only a gunshot wound. How could she not pull through?"He shoved past Alan and ran for the operating room downstairs.Mom let go of Lillian and hurried after him, muttering in panic."Nothing vital was hit. I checked. How could she...? How could she...?"I drifted after them down the stairwell.Mom was so unsteady that she nearly fell down the stairs.Lillian, whose arm suddenly didn't appear to hurt anymore, followed them downstairs too.Dad stopp

  • Too Strong to Save   Chapter 4

    Becca scrambled to her feet and fled toward the stairs.I hovered in the corner of Lillian's room, watching Dad and Mom sit on either side of her bed like devoted guards.Whatever feeling I had left for them finally went still.Two years earlier, I'd completed my schooling and every part of my family's training program. I wanted to go to Port Calloway and expand our operations there.I'd packed my things. Our people in the city were ready to meet me.Then Dad confiscated everything I'd prepared and canceled the arrangements in Port Calloway.He told me to stay home and practice cooking instead.Lillian had a poor appetite, he said. She barely ate unless I was the one preparing her meals. If I left, who would cook for her?I begged them through tears."I have things I want to accomplish too. I want to prove I can make our family stronger."I'm only going there to grow the business. It could take our whole family to the next level."Mom slapped me hard across the face."How c

  • Too Strong to Save   Chapter 3

    I followed a terrified Becca straight through the operating room ceiling and drifted up to the VIP suites.The door to Lillian's room stood slightly open. Cheerful laughter floated into the hall.Lillian was propped against a mountain of pillows in brand-new silk pajamas, watching television. Her arm had been wrapped in the finest dressing the hospital could offer. Mom had even ordered a calming diffuser for the room so Lillian wouldn't get worked up again.Dad sat beside the bed with a small, elegant fruit knife, painstakingly picking every seed out of a bowl of watermelon."Daddy, this isn't sweet enough. I don't want it."Lillian pushed the bowl away with a pout.Dad set it aside immediately and went to wash his hands."Then you don't have to eat it, sweetheart. What would you like instead? I'll have someone bring it up."Lillian's eyes darted around. Then her expression turned worried."I want Anna's lemon-pepper wings. But she still hasn't come to see me. Do you think she

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