Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2-1

"Hey, mister, you know my daughter?" Lucy sidled up with a fake sweet smile plastered on her face.

Joseph didn’t even glance at her as he replied with an icy stare, "I’m her real brother."

His tone was cold enough to freeze hell. He had no patience for Lucy, not when he was finally reunited with the sister he’d been looking for his whole life.

"Julian," Joseph muttered in a low, dangerous voice.

Julian stepped forward and pulled out a check for 300 thouand dollars. "This is for the trouble your family’s caused. This covers Danielle’s expenses while she was with you.

From now on, she’s done with you."

Lucy’s eyes locked onto the check like a heat-seeking missile. "But Danielle’s supposed to be engaged to the town supervisor’s son," she said, the greed practically dripping from her words. She was already calculating how she could make this work in her favor.

"I never agreed to any engagement," Danielle cut in, her voice sharp as broken glass.

Joseph’s voice dropped to a deadly whisper.

"You really think the town supervisor’s son is worthy of a Darling heir?"

Lucy shrank under his glare, too scared to speak. The check still lay there, though, and she consoled herself with the thought that at least she’d get paid. That made everything easier to swallow.

Joseph turned back to Danielle, his tone softening just a bit. "Let’s go home, Danielle.

Everyone’s waiting."

At the Darling residence in Soufield, an elegant couple paced by the gates like caged tigers.

"Joseph promised an hour. It’s been longer." Vivian Darling fretted, smoothing her already perfect hair.

"Traffic, dear. They’ll be here soon." Howard Darling soothed his wife, though his own heart thundered at the thought of seeing their lost daughter.

When the convoy finally appeared, the couple practically sprinted forward.

Danielle met their eager gazes through the car window. Vivian, despite her fifties, retained the graceful beauty of a classic film star.

"Danielle? My baby?" Vivian’s voice cracked as tears spilled down her cheeks.

Before Danielle could properly exit the car, her mother enveloped her in a desperate embrace. "Finally. I’ve thought of you every single day."

The sudden contact felt alien to Danielle, who’d lived without gentle touches for eighteen years. Yet something in her mother’s warmth called to a long-buried part of her soul.

"Let me look at you." Vivian cradled her daughter’s face, seeing her own youth mirrored there. "Were they kind to you?"

Danielle just responded with a cool "Mhm." That simple lie brought fresh tears to Vivian’s eyes.

"Let’s go inside," Howard suggested gently, taking his daughter’s threadbare backpack.

The shabby bag made his throat close up his precious daughter, living in poverty while they searched.