g with a mix of anger and hurt. "After ten years,

ey sometimes held. "Don' t be so dramatic, Scarlett. You' re a guest in this house.

I had tried to be a daughter, a sister, a part of the family.

up screaming. Brandon had run into my room, sat on my bed, and held me until I stopped shaking. He had smoothed m

itter, mocking ghost. This wasn' t my home. I

She looked around, a proprietary air about her, as if she already o

s pretty," she said, he

opened the lid, and the soft, tinkling melody of 'Clair de

losing the lid. She looked at Bran

l, desperate test. He knew what this music box mea

"Of course," he said to Tiffany

of my parents I had left without a second thought. He gave it to the

ing at the music box in h

g look. "Enough, Scarle

the boxes out, leaving the room bare except for the furniture

hall. It was cold and impersonal, with plain white walls and generic hotel ar

as quiet. As I passed the living room, I heard voices. I peeked in. Br

d see the diamond necklace inside sparkle under

t' s gorgeous!"

is voice the one I used to dream of, low an

his fingers gentle against her skin. She l

ading through me. I stumbled back to my little gu

my head. "You deser

ad given me a simple silver locket. I had worn it every single day since. Now, it felt

ntil someone better, someone like Tiffany, came along. And now she was here, we

s no