Just then the butler pulled up in the car and, frantic, lifted Marlene into the back seat.
"You'd better pray Marlene is all right. Otherwise..."
I wanted to explain, but the cursed phantom pain came for me again, so sharp I nearly blacked out. I couldn't get out a single whole sentence.
Fighting through it, I stumbled back to my room and found the painkillers and swallowed them down.
By the time I came out again, the house was empty.
I picked up my phone to ask what was happening, and only then realized I didn't have any of their numbers.
I slept badly that night and got up early. I'd just finished washing up and stepped out when I heard the door open.
Marlene came in with one hand in a cast, leaning on our mother for support.
My father had been up all night, and the exhaustion showed plainly on his face.
Marlene saw me coming down the stairs and started screaming at me.
"Sharon Swanson, seeing me like this must make you so happy. I know you're scared I'll steal Mom and Dad from you."
"I don't blame you. But don't you think a trick like this is beneath contempt?"
I frowned. Was she saying it that way to make everyone misunderstand?
"You fell on your own. If I could have, of course I'd have caught you. It's just—"
"Enough!"
My father's hand went up out of nowhere.
Before I could even react, a slap landed square across my face.
"You're still arguing even now. Your sister may be blunt, but she doesn't lie, and she doesn't talk back to her parents."
"And you? From the moment you came back, you've turned this house upside down, and you still won't admit any fault."
"Sharon Swanson, we brought you home so you could defy your parents and hurt your sister?"
My face burned, and something like a wronged ache I couldn't name rose in me.
"I didn't."
I kept my head down, tears swimming in my eyes.
"You didn't? So Marlene made it all up? What a joke."
"I'd really like to ask the people at that orphanage exactly what they taught you."
"Starting today, you don't set one foot outside that room. When you understand what you did wrong, then you can come out."
Thinking of school starting tomorrow, I hesitated before speaking.
"But I—"
"There's no 'but.' Set one foot out of this house, and don't blame me for forgetting we're father and daughter and throwing you out of the Abbott family for good."
On her way past, Marlene murmured low, gloating.
"You're still too green to go up against me. Just wait. We're not done. I'll make you crawl out of the Abbott house on your own."
I didn't take her taunt to heart at all, because today I was leaving anyway.
I'd only come by on the way because Director Swanson had said that, good or bad, I ought to come see for myself what kind of people my birth parents were, what kind of home was mine.
Now that I'd seen it, it was time to go.
I hadn't gone far past the villa when a sports car came tearing past me and slammed straight into the fountain up ahead.
Marlene climbed out of the car, one hand in the cast, the other pressed to her head, cursing all the while.
She didn't like me. I'd seen that from the first day I set foot in the Abbott house.
Seeing her now, I turned to go, wanting nothing more to do with her.
But as I turned, I ran into my parents, who had come back partway.
They got out of the car, didn't so much as glance at me, and crowded around Marlene, their eyes full of worry.
"Marlene, are you all right? Does anything hurt?"
"Who was driving this car? How did it get wrecked like this? Where's the driver? Get over here."
It never occurred to them that the injured Marlene had been the one driving. They looked around for whoever had caused it.
"It was my sister. She was trying to drive off, and I was afraid Dad would be angry if he found out, so I ran out to talk her into coming home."
"But she wouldn't listen to me at all. Good thing I got out of the way, or else..."
When I saw Marlene's finger pointing at me, I stood there stunned for several seconds.
A disabled person with no arms, nearly running you over with a car?
By the time Marlene finished, the temperature all around seemed to drop a few degrees.
My father seemed to notice me for the first time, his eyes sizing me up.
"To think that my own daughter, Clive Abbott's daughter, would turn out to be someone like this."
"It seems bringing you back was not the right choice. Maybe heaven already made the right one for us eighteen years ago."
"Sharon Swanson, leave. I'll give you a sum of money, call it what we owe you for these eighteen years. From now on, don't come back to the Abbott family."
"Consider that we never had you. Don't come disturbing our lives again."
My mother covered her face and wept quietly, tears slipping through her fingers, letting her husband's decision stand.
They hadn't even given me a chance to defend myself before they'd handed down the verdict.
My heart felt like it took a blow, a sharp pain, but it scattered fast.
I didn't explain anything. I only shook my head, a little.
"I don't need your money. I have a scholarship. It's enough to finish college."
"I was leaving today anyway. The Abbott family, I won't ever come back to."
My father let out a scoffing laugh, as if he'd heard the biggest joke in the world.
"Fine. Since you've got so much backbone, don't ever come asking me for anything."
"I hope you look out for yourself."
They shielded Marlene into the car and, in the end, wouldn't even leave me a single goodbye.
The moment they were gone, my phone rang.
"Ms. Swanson, your private dorm is all set. I hear you've already arrived. Where are you? I'll send someone to pick you up."
I thanked them softly. The person on the line was unusually courteous.
"No need to thank us. You're the top scorer in the admissions exams. For you to choose our school is an honor for us."
