Chapter 2

The words hung in the silent, cold room. "I think you' re my sister."

My mind, already fractured, couldn't process it. "You have the wrong number," I managed to say, my voice trembling.

"No, please, don't hang up," the man, Alexander, said quickly. "Your name is Sarah Miller, adopted by the Bennett family twenty years ago. But you were born Olivia Hayes. You have a small, crescent-shaped birthmark on your left shoulder. When you were a baby, you loved the lullaby 'Starlight, Starbright.' Our mother sang it to you every night."

I froze. My hand instinctively went to my shoulder, to the birthmark I' d had my entire life. The lullaby... it was a tune that had haunted my dreams for years, a melody without a source. How could he know that?

"How..." I whispered, my throat tight.

"There was a fire at the hospital nursery the night you were born," he explained, his voice gentle but filled with pain. "We were told you didn't make it. But my parents never gave up hope. They've been searching for you ever since. I've been searching. We just... we finally found you."

Tears I didn't know I had left began to stream down my face. A sob escaped my lips, a raw, wounded sound. Twenty-five years. For twenty-five years, I thought I was an orphan, a charity case, a girl who had to earn her place in the world. But I had a family. A real family.

"My name," I choked out. "My name is Olivia?"

"Yes. Olivia Hayes," he said, and the name felt like coming home. "Olivia, are you okay? You sound... you sound like you're in trouble."

I couldn't hold it back anymore. The dam of forced strength I had built over three years burst. I told him everything. The frame-up, the prison, the abuse, the stolen songs, the party, Chloe's cruelty, Ethan and Noah's betrayal. I unloaded every ounce of pain, every humiliation, every moment of despair.

He listened silently, his breathing the only sound on the other end of the line. When I finished, my voice a raw whisper, there was a long pause.

"Olivia," he said, his voice now dangerously calm, a quiet fury simmering beneath the surface. "The Hayes family is one of the most powerful dynasties in Europe. Our name carries weight. The fact that the Bennetts, a minor family in a provincial American city, dared to treat our daughter this way... they will pay. I promise you that."

He continued, his tone softening. "But first, we need to get you out of there. You are not alone anymore, Olivia. You have me. You have our parents. We will protect you. We will give you everything you deserve." He mentioned Noah, his voice laced with contempt. "A man who would trade your freedom for his own convenience is not a man at all. He is a coward. You deserve so much better."

Hearing him say it, hearing my pain validated for the first time, was like a balm on my open wounds. I remembered the sweet moments with Noah, the promises whispered in the dark, the future we were supposed to have. It all felt like a dream from another life, a beautiful lie that had shattered into a million pieces. The man I loved was gone, replaced by a stranger who stood by and watched me suffer.

I took a deep, shuddering breath. "What do I do?"

"Pack a bag. Get your passport. I'm sending a private jet. It will be there in twelve hours. I'll text you the details of a private airfield. Do not tell anyone you are leaving."

The thought of leaving, of just disappearing from this toxic life, was a terrifying and exhilarating prospect. For the first time in years, a flicker of hope ignited in my chest.

I spent the rest of the night in a daze, my mind racing. The warmth of my newfound family on one side, the cold, hard reality of the Bennetts on the other. I looked at my reflection in the dark window-a pale, thin girl with haunted eyes. That was Sarah Miller. Olivia Hayes was someone else. Someone strong. Someone who had a family that loved her.

The next morning, I moved like a phantom through the house. I went online and booked a one-way ticket to a random city, a digital decoy. Then I went to my bank and quietly withdrew the small amount of money I had left from my pre-prison life. I needed to be a ghost.

As I was heading back to my room, a voice stopped me. "Going somewhere?"

It was Chloe, leaning against the doorframe of her room, a smug smile on her face. She was dressed in expensive workout gear, looking fresh and vibrant.

"It's none of your business," I said, trying to walk past her.

She blocked my path. "Oh, but it is. You're still living under my family's roof, eating our food. Running away? How pathetic. Do you think anyone else would want you? A convicted felon?"

I tried to ignore her, to push past, but she grabbed my arm, her nails digging into my skin. "Don't you walk away from me."

"Let go of me, Chloe," I warned, my voice low.

She tightened her grip. "Or what? You'll hit me? Go ahead. See who they believe."

I tried to pull my arm away, and in the struggle, she lost her balance. She let out a theatrical scream and stumbled backward, intentionally knocking over a large, expensive vase in the hallway. It shattered on the marble floor.

"She pushed me!" Chloe shrieked, collapsing into a heap of crocodile tears. "Ethan! Noah! Sarah pushed me!"

They came running, of course. Ethan and Noah, my two former protectors, now her loyal guards.

"What the hell is going on?" Ethan demanded, his eyes immediately going to the sobbing Chloe on the floor.

"I didn't touch her," I said, my voice steady despite the rage boiling inside me.

"She's lying!" Chloe cried, pointing a trembling finger at me. "She was trying to leave, and when I asked her where she was going, she got angry and pushed me! She said she hates me, that she wishes I was dead!"

Ethan rushed to Chloe' s side, scooping her up into his arms. "It' s okay, Chloe. I' m here. She won' t hurt you." He looked at me, his face a mask of fury and disappointment. "Look what you did! She's terrified of you! Can't you just leave her alone for one day?"

Noah knelt and began picking up the pieces of the broken vase. He wouldn't look at me. "Sarah, why are you doing this? We're trying to help you. We're giving you a place to stay, and you repay us by attacking Chloe?"

"I didn't attack her!" I said, my voice rising. "She's lying! Look at her, she's not even hurt!"

Ethan cradled Chloe as if she were made of glass. "That's enough. You're clearly unstable. The prison has done a number on you. Maybe we should look into getting you some professional help."

He carried Chloe away, cooing at her, promising her that everything would be alright. Noah stood up, dusting his hands off.

"Just apologize to her, Sarah," he said, his voice weary. "Make this easy on everyone."

I just stared at him, at the man I once thought I would spend my life with. I saw nothing of him left. Only a hollow shell, controlled by guilt and manipulated by a master puppeteer.

"If I have to die for you people to believe me," I said, the words cold and sharp, "then maybe that's what I'll do."

His eyes widened in shock, but I didn't wait for his reply. I turned and walked back to my room, the sound of the closing door a final, definitive slam on my past life.