C2 Chapter 2

"I promised the Fitzroy's a daughter of mine, a daughter that did not marry some nobody after a drunken night, and I am not going back on my word," her father sounds firm on his choice, but he remains seated and stares down at Kayla.

It hurts more than any physical harm her father could have done to her, the knowledge that she would be the reason that Jayla would have to suffer.

"Just give me the time to talk to Adrian, father- I am sure I can convince him otherwise, he'll understand," and this time even if Kayla doesn't entirely believe her own words, she wants it to be true.

Despite what his family name might mean, Adrian had never given her any reason to doubt him. The Adrian she knows is reasonable, the Adrian she knows stole glances at her when he thought no one would notice and held her hand tighter than a halfhearted fiancé should need to.

Kayla hoped that there was some part of that childhood crush of the man that would understand, that would take her back and not ask for her younger sister .

Her father remains unshaken; because it's not just between Mikayla and Adrian, their marriage was supposed to hold the generations that have passed behind them, it holds the transactions between her father and Adrian's grandfather, a man whose favor was the most crucial to the Sinclair empire's stability.

Kayla had never been a fan of the old man and after she eloped with a so-called 'nobody' detective instead of his precious grandson, Kayla is sure the old man isn't that great of a fan of hers anymore either.

Offering her hand again was just going to worsen the situation, making it seem like the Sinclair's hold no worth or value to their word.

"Jaylani is not the only Sinclair left!" Her stepmother speaks again, her words no longer hold either the gentle sympathy or the helpless softness anymore, instead if anything it's a desperate shout, taking her chance before her father steals her only child's fate. "Skyla"

"No," this time Kayla is the one to interrupt, and she does it in the same firm tone of finality that she had inherited from her father.

If Jayla is too young to be brought in, then Skyla is too far removed to be called back into the family, her father had made sure of it despite all her protests and she is not about to let this be the reason that her stupidly innocent sister is fed false hope again.

"Skyla is a Sinclair ," the woman completes her words anyway. She takes a second look at her stepmother.

She had never been the demon in their stories. She never tried to be a mother to either Kayla or Skyla but she had never denied them anything either, she has never been cruel or unkind, and even took care of Skyla the same way she took care of Jaylani when the other needed it the most, but suddenly that all seems to change.

Instead of the kind woman who had lent her heart and hands to them, she sees a butcher who has raised them for their slaughter, or maybe just preventive measures to keep Jayla away from the sharp edges of the blade.

"She is not a Sinclair that matters," Mikayla argues. She is a Sinclair , but she is only in name, maybe a hint of blood too, but that had never mattered to her father before and never will.

"I never thought I would see the day you would say those words," her father says all of a sudden, and that's when Kayla realizes that the man is actually considering it. "Jaylani has better prospects, better potential- Maybe there is finally some use to the runt in the litter," There is something twisted on the old man's face, something that has Kayla gripping harder on the handle of her chair.

"I am not letting you pull her back to the family, not after what happened last time," she insists. Skyla is happy where she is today, She has made sure of it. There is no fake decorum and

manipulated lies pressed into her head in the summer fields of the countryside, no one waiting at his back ready to stab her at the first opportunity, no nightmares to haunt his sister who had always trusted so easily and cared too deeply to be a Sinclair.

Mikayla can't be like her father, she can't be the reason for her sister's tears and anguish.