Chapter 2

2

When I was first brought back to this family, they actually treated me with kindness.

I still remembered the day the police broke down the door to rescue me.

My mother sobbed uncontrollably, her trembling hands wrapping around me so tightly that her tears soaked my entire shoulder.

"My sweet baby, you suffered so much."

She choked on her words, her vision blurred by tears.

In that brief moment, I felt a sense of safety I had never known before.

My mother told me that I had an older brother and a younger sister.

"Your brother was too swamped with work to come pick you up, but he picked out a gift for you."

There was a subtle hint of guilt in her voice that I was too naive to catch.

Back then, I truly believed Landon was just busy with business.

Looking back now, he simply never wanted to see me.

They gave me a cozy, beautiful bedroom.

That evening, Yvette came to my room to apologize.

"I'm so sorry. Landon missed your arrival because he came to watch my violin recital. Please blame me, not him."

My mother's lie was instantly exposed.

Yet I was so intoxicated by the joy of having a home that I completely overlooked it.

Yvette pulled out a delicate silver necklace.

The pendant was engraved with the letters Y.Y.

"This is my welcome gift to you, to keep you safe and blessed!" She looked at me with bright, innocent eyes. "Let me put it on you."

Not wanting to turn down her goodwill, I nodded with a grateful smile.

Yvette smiled sweetly, though a strange, cunning gleam flashed across her eyes.

That night, Landon returned from the office, and I rushed to greet the brother I had never met.

The moment his eyes landed on me, his expression darkened, and he violently grabbed my wrist.

"Where did you steal that necklace from?"

The very first words my biological brother ever said to me were an accusation of theft.

With just one sentence, he sentenced me to death.

I opened my mouth in panic. "I didn't steal it..."

"You dare lie to my face?"

Landon dragged me forcefully to the living room and threw me in front of our mother.

My mother looked down at me with sheer disappointment and disgust.

"Taya, if you want something, I will buy it for you. But you cannot be a thief."

"My sister gave it to me!"

I pleaded desperately, drowning in confusion and humiliation.

No matter how hard I tried to explain, neither of them believed a single word.

"I personally gave that necklace to Yvette for her birthday," Landon snarled, his eyes blazing. "It has her initials carved right on it. She treasures it more than her life, and you still claim you didn't steal it?"

Just as I stood there trembling and helpless, Yvette walked in from her piano lesson.

I looked at her desperately, praying she would clear my name.

Instead, she stared at the necklace around my neck, her eyes filling with tears as she put on a look of sheer devastation.

"Why did you take my necklace?"

"I would give you anything else in this house, but Landon gave me this for my birthday!"

"I know I don't belong in this family anymore, but this necklace means everything to me. Please don't take it away from me, I beg you!"

My eyes widened in utter disbelief.

She was lying.

She was the one who personally fastened it around my neck.

Both my mother and brother were completely blinded by her tears.

Yvette's pitiful act instantly broke their hearts.

My mother pulled her tightly into her arms, cooing softly. "How could you say you don't belong? You are my precious little girl!"

Landon glared at me with absolute fury. "Take it off and give it back to her right now!"

With trembling fingers, I unclasped the necklace.

My chest felt as though an invisible hand were squeezing my heart until it bled.

It hurt worse than the brutal beatings I used to endure on the ranch.

We were supposed to be real family, yet they refused to trust me for even a second.

"Mom, please don't be mad at her. She must have just liked it too much," Yvette whispered, burying her face against our mother's chest.

As she peeked over Mom's shoulder at me, a triumphant smirk curled on her lips.