Chapter 21

Howard and Elaine called Cassandra by her nickname, their eyes full of regret. "We were blind. We mistook that imposter for our daughter and made you suffer. Marissa is gone, so we only have you now. You're our only daughter. Come home with us, okay?" Cassandra looked at the regret on their faces and felt nothing. "Marissa wasn't real," she said evenly. "But the favoritism and the hurt you gave me all these years were." Back when she had begged for their love, they had poured it all into someone else and couldn't spare her even a fraction. She still remembered the darkness and the freezing air of that cold storage room, as well as the lashes that split her skin open. All of it had come from Howard and Elaine. Now, they had uncovered the impostor's true face and came back to her, as if that could erase everything they had done. She couldn't forgive them, so she said coldly, "No. Leave." Howard and Elaine froze. They tried to get closer, but Ronan's bodyguards stopped them. "Ca