There’s no anger in her voice. Just exhaustion.
I nod, but my chest feels heavier than before. I reach for Em’s hand, link our fingers, and give her palm a light squeeze. She looks up at me, eyebrows raised just enough to ask silently, Are you okay? Should I be worried? I shake my head slightly – later, I’ll tell her everything. Right now, I just want her to feel safe.
Julie steps forward, calling out to the girls with her usual light tone. “Alright, let’s not keep everyone standing around. Come inside, the food’s getting cold.”
The girls perk up immediately and head toward the porch, their voices overlapping. I hang back a little with Emilia, letting her catch her breath. Before she can even ask, I lean in, murmuring, “You’re doing great. Just stay by me, yeah?”
She nods, grateful, and I keep her hand in mine as we follow the rest of them inside.
EMILIA
“Diana Vanderbilt. Twenty–two years old. Stanford graduate at twenty, dual degrees in business management and software development. At fifteen, she pitched the integration of predictive Al algorithms into Vanderbilt Holdings‘ financial analytics suite – a move that slashed risk margins by 38% and tripled profits in under two years. Only recognised child of Genevieve and Andrew Vanderbilt. Heir to their billion–dollar empire. Spends her time between golf clubs, tech summits, and
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black–tie galas. Owns six Range Rovers, vacation homes on every continent, and is allegedly already done with her PhD.”
Lexhale. “All that’s missing is her blood type, coffee order, and the name of her pet snake.”
“A positive. Venti iced white mocha, extra caramel drizzle, vanilla sweet cream cold foam, five pumps of white mocha, four toffee nut, two hazelnut, topped with whip and cinnamon dolce. sprinkles. Blonde espresso shot. Oat milk. Light ice. And Vixi.”
I pull the phone away from my ear and just stare at it. “Jesus, Kara. I was joking.”
A pause. Then, deadpan: “Oh.” Kara is Adrian’s friend from grad school–which means, fortunately, she’s also somehow in my life now. And if Adrian’s awkward, Kara’s basically a sentient. algorithm. Same tone. Same fixation on irrelevant details. “But why do you want Diana looked into? Adrian said she wasn’t suspicious.”
–
I open my mouth to respond then wince as two different. songs start blaring outside Liam’s room. Both at full volume. Both coming from opposite sides of the hall.
Maya warned me this would happen. “Eliza’s dragging Lucille into her emo era,” she’d said. “It’ll be over before our parents get back.”
The Calloways had been… exactly what I expected and nothing like it. Once I got over the fact that they all looked like clones same blonde hair, same blue eyes – it was easier to realise they were actually really sweet.
Eliza showed up halfway through dinner covered in purple and
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green paint, grabbed an apple from the fridge, turned around, saw me and Liam at the table and completely froze, before trying to pull us into a hug.
Lucille and Luka joined a minute later, and from there it became chaos in the most wholesome way.
The girls took turns babying Luka, who has the flu; Veronica cut his steak into perfect little bites, while Julie roped Liam into some scheme about destroying Lucille’s bullies.
“It’s because she’s quiet and easily influenced,” Julie had muttered to Liam and me, glancing toward Lucille at the other end of the table. “She lets people walk all over her.”
—
“That’s Eliza’s influence,” Liam said quietly. “Luci’s used to going along with whatever she says. She’s sixteen — of course she’s trying to figure herself out, and she’s looking to her older siblings to do it. I just wish she’d look to her twin instead.”
He scooped mashed potatoes onto my plate like it was an act of war. Jaw tight. Eyes darker than they had been all evening. His grip on the spoon was just a little too hard.
I almost didn’t have the nerve to tell him I could do it myself.
But then he looked at me, and just like that – softer. “Do you want cranberry sauce? It’s really good.”
“Okay,” I said, even though I don’t like cranberry sauce.
“She doesn’t even realise they’re bullying her,” Julie mutters, visibly irritated now. “Seth went to her school to talk to the principal, and she got mad. Told him he was just trying to chase her friends away,”
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If it’s even possible, Liam’s expression darkens. “That’s because he handled it badly.”
“Exactly.” Julie nods, dead serious. “All he had to do was tie those little fucks up and lock them in a rundown shed. Blast a few animal growls through a speaker, make them think there are feral dogs outside waiting to eat them alive. After a few hours without food, water, or light, they’ll think twice before telling Lucille to drink toilet water with a straw.”
