<
At that moment, Claire and Damon emerged from the house. Damon looked at me, panic evident on his face.
I raised my voice. “Claire Bright, where’s your acceptance letter?”
Claire glanced nervously at the officers, sensing the trouble. “Acceptance letter? I haven’t gotten one yet.”
I glared. “That’s impossible.”
Officer
Lake patted my shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Callie. We’ll take care of this.”
Mr. Everett straightened his back. “Callie, if you’re accusing me, you’d better have proof.”
Wiping away my tears, I said, “The acceptance letter is proof.” My ID number would be on it.
Claire turned pale, glancing at Damon, who just hung his head.
Officer Lake stepped forward, “Ms. Bright, could you show us your acceptance letter?”
Claire panicked. “You don’t have the right to see that.”
Officer Lake flashed her badge with a friendly smile.
Terrified, Claire started crying. “Dad, what do I do?”
Mr. Everett’s face went gray.
Damon’s expression turned into one of shock. “Did you just call him ‘Dad‘?”
Claire shut her mouth and shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks.
I looked at them both, finally noticing the resemblance. So they were related.
“Mr. Everett, is Claire your daughter?” I asked, knowing the answer.
Damon’s voice cracked. “Dad, Claire’s…your daughter?”
He glared at Mr. Everett with a look of fury. “How could you do this to me? To my mom?”
“You were seeing someone else the whole time?” Damon was livid.
Mr. Everett, looking defeated, said nothing.
Claire reached out to Damon, but he swatted her hand away, and she fell to the ground, crying.
“Get away from me. You disgust me!”
I hadn’t expected to see Damon reject Claire so harshly. In my past life, he would talk about her fondly.
Whenever I’d shown jealousy, he would insist it was just “past feelings” or “a family obligation” since she was practically Mr. Everett’s “half–daughter.”
I remembered how she had even used my name to steal my life.
Now that she was known as Mr. Everett’s daughter, why did it bother Damon so much?
Damon yelled at them both. “Get out! You’re revolting!”
Claire got up, tearfully reaching for Damon, but he laughed with a strange look. “No wonder…no wonder you never took me seriously. You’re my dad’s love child!”
I leaned against the door, amused at the chaotic scene.
