Chapter 6
Professor Faucher shook his head and didn’t hesitate. “Wanda’s academic performance and research abilities have always been outstanding. If she couldn’t graduate, then nobody
could.”
Confused, Dad asked, “Then why did she just vanish out of the blue? Shouldn’t she still be
in school?”
Professor Faucher finally turned to him, looking exasperated. “Wanda finished her Ph.D. early. You’re her family. How do you not know that?
“And as for where she went after? That’s up to her. If she didn’t tell you, why would I
know?”
Mom and Dad went quiet. Jillian fiddled aggressively with her cuff button, lost in her own
thoughts.
When Mom and Dad got back home, they started calling in favors to hunt me down across
the country.
They cooked up this whole story about needing me back for a family reunion since they’d never actually called me a Swain after bringing me home.
Jillian wasn’t having it. She trailed after Mom and Dad, pestering them nonstop. “I’m your daughter, too. Let me have Wanda’s spot. Once everyone officially accepts me as a Swain, I’ll be the real deal, and I can step in and run the family business.”
Even now, the only thing Jillian actually owned was some tech company Dad had founded for her. Most of the Swains‘ assets still weren’t in Jillian’s name, so her nerves were written
all over her face when she heard this.
Dad stared straight at her, studying her for a long moment before finally speaking. “I’m not even out of the picture yet, and you’re already trying to carve up the family fortune?”
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Jillian immediately waved her hands in denial, but the whole thing left Dad with a nagging
doubt he couldn’t shake.
That was when Mom and Dad finally remembered the one decent thing about me. After
they brought me back to the Swains, I never once eyed their money or assets or asked them for anything.
Once Jillian got a taste of their icy treatment, she switched up quickly. She started pitching
in to look for me instead of just standing around. She’d leave the house first thing in the
morning and wouldn’t return until after dark.
Mom was so touched. She started second–guessing herself and thought, “Maybe Jillian
wasn’t so bad after all.”
But then she brought Jillian some food and stumbled right into the truth. Jillian left her
office door open while she gabbed on loudly with her best friend.
“Mom and Dad still think Wanda decided not to come back. Isn’t that funny? They’ll buy anything I tell them.
“They’d never figure out she actually got hit and ended up in the hospital before all this. You should’ve hit her harder–maybe snapped a bone or two and kept her stuck in bed for
years.
“She brought it on herself, always acting like she’s better than everyone. But I couldn’t stand to crush Mom and Dad like that, so I only messed with her a little, just enough to
make them hate her.”
Mom just stood there, her face white as a sheet as she listened to Jillian’s smug little recap of how she’d set me up and screwed me over. Finally, she snapped. She ran into the office and launched the food container straight at her, putting every ounce of strength behind it.
Mom jabbed a finger at Jillian, who was shrieking with her hands clamped over her head, and snarled, “Jillian! How could you hurt Wanda? Do you even have a conscience?”
Jillian never thought she’d be found out this way. All the blood rushed out of her cheeks in
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an instant.
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“Mom, I didn’t mean to hurt Wanda! I’m just feeling insecure. Please give me another chance! I promise I’ll treat Wanda right from now on. I won’t cause any more trouble for her!”
Mom gave her a withering look and cut her off without mercy. “You said the same thing
when Wanda first came home. I’m not buying it
again.”
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