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Her mother turned and stalked back toward us with a sneer. That pale pink blouse and those pearls couldn’t cover up how awful she was.
“So you’d know exactly what it was like to have everything you wanted stolen from you,” she spat. “I had to settle for this.” She spoke with disgust as she waved her hand around like she was swatting at insects.
To Marlow’s credit, she didn’t even flinch, though I was certain those words had to hurt.
“I’mchoosingthis family,” I said with a need to defend them. The Dixons were the best. She was a fool to have thrown them away.
She leered at me. “You come from a long line of drunks. If it weren’t for your great-grandfather’s money, you’d all be destitute by now.”
I wouldn’t take up for the people who’d raised me. They didn’t deserve it.
“You’re insane,” Andrew said.
His mother looked at him as if she felt sorry for him. “No, darling. Every one of you was desperate for me.” She snorted. “It was pathetic, really.” Somehow she seemed pleased despite her words.
“Guess we inherited that trait from you,” Holt said sardonically.
“My sister stole what belonged to me. It was only fair I return the favor when I knew it would have the most impact.”
“If you didn’t love Dad or want this family, why bother having the three of us?” Marlow challenged.
Ivette gave her a look as if she were daft. “To make my sister jealous.”
“None of them knew about us,” Andrew said.
“Terra and her brother didn’t. My sister and Oliver were quite surprised when I showed up pregnant with Holt.”
“You knew all along he wasn’t my father,” Holt said. I felt for the guy being dragged through hell like that.
She smiled. “Buttheydidn’t.”
What a sinister woman. She was certifiable.
“You used us. We served your purpose. Why come back? You never answered me.” Marlow stood taller, and I put a hand of support on her shoulder.
“I suffered for years with all the shrieking and the diapers and school when I should’ve been somewhere else. Do you have any idea what it’s like for your heart to be in one place and be stuck where you don’t belong?”
Ouch. Marlow’s face crumpled. She knewexactlywhat that was like as well as anyone in this group.
Duke muscled his way into the group.Where did he come from?He was massive, yet had such stealth.
He held up his phone. “Did you know Shirley Trout was admitted to Bryce Hospital in Alabama when she was seventeen?”
I squinted at him. “Who’s Shirley Trout?”
“Keep scrolling.” He shoved the phone in my face.
Ivette swiped at me. “She doesn’t exist.”
Duke smirked. “Oh yeah, she does. Spent six months in that nut house. Was used as a lab rat in early studies of narcissism.”
Ivette’s face turned scarlet. “She. Does. Not. Exist.”
Duke remained calm. Actually, he looked like he was having fun. “Maybe not on paper anymore. Ivette Hamilton emerged in her place. In Cape Elizabeth, Maine.”
“My parents should’ve given me a more glamorous name,” she said bitterly. “I have to do everything myself.” And then she snapped her mouth shut as if realizing what she’d admitted.
I couldn’t read the words on the screen fast enough. There was a photo of a much younger Ivette—or Shirley?—but there was no mistaking they were one in the same person. According to the dossier, Ivette’s family moved to Maine as soon as she was discharged. They all had a new last name . . . Hamilton.Hamilton?
