Chapter 3

Dad.

Relief washed over me. Before I could ask for help, Vivian snatched the phone. She glared at me with hatred, even as she tried to play the victim.

"Dad, Nora stole Mom's ring and won't admit it. I only wanted to teach her some manners for you. She needs to know her place."

"Let Nora go! Give her the phone!" Dad sounded furious. "Vivian, stop this right now!"

Vivian's smug smile froze. For a moment, she looked scared. Amber held her phone still, and the girls around us fell silent. The whole room seemed to freeze.

Clutching the phone, Vivian turned away from me and tried to defend herself. "She's a mess. The guests will laugh if she goes out like this. I'll take her to get cleaned up first."

She hung up before Dad could answer and shoved the phone back into Martin's hand.

Then she turned on me and reached for my coat. "You're going to parade around looking like that? Do you want everyone laughing at our family?"

I shook her off and held up my swollen left hand. "Give me back the ring."

My fingers were too swollen to bend. The shoe print stood out on my hand, and every movement sent pain through it. Vivian didn't care. She calmly opened her handbag and dropped the ring into an inside pocket.

"I'll keep it safe for Mom." She turned to Martin. "Lock my bag away behind the bar. Don't let her get her hands on the ring again."

Lucy picked up my phone. The screen was cracked. She pushed open a nearby dressing-room door and whispered urgently, "This way. The passage on the other side leads straight out. Go."

The dress Mom had chosen for me hung inside the room, white tulle dotted with tiny sparkling stones. I was supposed to shine in it tonight.

I'd just crossed the threshold when my phone vibrated again.

Pain shot through the back of my head. Vivian had caught up and grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking me backward.

She pulled so hard my head tipped back. It felt as if she were tearing my scalp. I clawed at her fingers while Lucy tried to drag Vivian off me. Amber stepped into the doorway, blocking my escape. She kept her phone trained on me the whole time.

"You want to call Mommy for help so badly? Then tell her the truth." Vivian dragged me by the hair to the vanity. "Tell her you don't deserve this party. Tell her you're leaving of your own free will. Crawl back where you came from."

I stumbled into the counter and braced my knees against the cabinet to stay upright. Everything hurt. Mom kept calling. The answer button was right there, and all I could think about was getting help.

"Put it on speaker. Say exactly what I told you!" Vivian demanded.

I answered at once, put the call on speaker, and screamed with everything I had. "Mom, help me! Vivian's beating me!"

"How dare you tell on me!"

Still gripping my hair, Vivian shoved my head forward in a rage. My temple hit the cold vanity mirror. Everything went black for a moment. When the dizziness eased, warm blood was running down past my eyebrow.

The mirror hadn't broken, but the cut burned and kept bleeding. I heard Mom calling frantically through the phone. Just as I tried to tell her where I was, Amber grabbed it and handed it to Vivian.

Mom's voice cut off. Vivian ended the call, tossed my phone to Martin, and grabbed my shoulders. She stared at me with cold anger.

"I told you to apologize. Didn't you hear me?"

I pressed a hand to my bleeding temple. Warm blood seeped between my fingers. I was scared and confused. Dad had explicitly told her to stop. She'd hung up while I was begging Mom for help. Why did she still think she could do whatever she wanted?

Lucy quickly pressed a napkin to my cut. "Keep pressing on this to stop the bleeding. I'm getting help. I'm calling the police!"

She ran out. Martin shouted for her to stop, but she ignored him and kept running, calling loudly for help.

I could hear her down the hall. The moment Vivian turned to Martin, I pushed through the side door and ran toward the light at the end of the passage, clutching the bloody napkin.

If I could just get out and find another staff member, I'd be safe.

Cradling my aching left hand, I dodged the serving carts along the passage, desperate to escape. Amber suddenly stepped into the middle of it and spread her arms. She was blocking my only way out.

"Move!" I shoved at her, trying to get past.

Someone struck me hard in the back. I lost my balance and pitched straight into a serving cart.

Dozens of champagne flutes shattered with a series of sharp crashes. My right forearm scraped across the rim of a broken glass, leaving a long, deep cut. Hot blood quickly soaked my sleeve. The pain was sharp and terrible.

Shaking, I instinctively pulled my arm back. Blood kept seeping from the wound.

Vivian stopped in front of me. I sat crumpled beside the broken glass while she looked down at me with cold contempt.

"Look at the mess you've made. You still think you can run away? Apologize right now!"

"I need to go to the hospital." I struggled for breath as I looked up. My vision blurred, and blood was still running from my temple. "I'm bleeding. Can't you see?"

Vivian showed no remorse. Instead, she kicked me hard in the stomach.

Already weak, I fell heavily and curled up beside a chair leg. My stomach cramped with pain. My chest felt tight. I kept opening my mouth, but I couldn't draw a proper breath.

Amber lowered her phone slightly, sounding uncertain. "I think she's really hurt. She looks like she's in a lot of pain."

"Who told you to stop? Keep filming!" Vivian snapped. She turned to Martin. "Bring the welcome sign from the entrance. Let everyone see who this party is really for."

Martin hesitated, looking at me, then went to fetch it. Soon, the sign with my name on it was thrown down beside me. One wooden corner rested on sharp broken glass.

I'd been so happy to see that sign when I arrived. I'd quietly looked forward to my party. Now it lay discarded on the floor, just another part of my humiliation.

Amber crouched and aimed her phone at my pale, bloody face and the sign. She recorded it all without pity.

"Get a good shot. Let everyone see what a fraud the Hartley family's long-lost daughter is." Vivian brushed the tangled, bloody hair from my face and forced me to look up at the camera.

Leaning against the chair leg, I finally managed a breath. This time, I didn't turn away. I looked straight into the phone and said, my voice hoarse but clear, "My name is Nora Hartley. Vivian beat me. Amber blocked the exit and wouldn't let me leave."

Amber's fingers went still, and she looked frightened. Vivian snapped at her to keep recording. She didn't look the least bit sorry.

I swallowed back tears and stared at Vivian. Again, I told her the truth she refused to believe. "My parents and both my brothers feel every bit of my pain. They're on their way. They'll be here any second!"

My temple kept bleeding, and it was getting harder to see. Dad's call had already exposed her lies. He knew I was in danger. Still, she raged on, refusing to believe the pain-link system existed.

She pointed to the pool just beyond the passage. "You think you can fool me with that? Let's see if some water clears your head!"