“What about Dahlia? Do you know who she was?”
The breath catches in my lungs. “Dahlia was my mother.”
“That’s right,” Grant whispers.
Suddenly the room feels as though it’s closing in as they all move closer.
What the hell is happening?
“Do you know what your parents’ last names were?” Sterling is so quiet, the hairs on my arms stand on end.
I need a weighted blanket, and I need one now.
“Styx.” The word hums across my lips. It stings and burns. It’s poison but the only name I remember—drilled into my subconscious the same way I learned the sky is blue.
“No, Clover.” Roman steps forward with his palms facing me. “Before they visited ROS, your parents were Brooks and Dahlia O’Connell. You are the last remaining heir to the O’Connell fortune.”
Valen jumps to his feet while I process what Roman’s saying.
“Are you telling me that my mother was related to Clover’s father? We’re fucking related?” Valen shouts, and my stomach heaves.
This can’t be right. It cannot be right.
“No, Valen. No,” Grant says, attempting to de-escalate the situation with a placating smile that comes out as a grimace. “Brooks and Dahlia O’Connell were Clover’s parents, and Dahlia was Terra’s stepsister—though Terra was never formally adopted. There’s no blood relation between you and Clover, and Terra’s mother passed away long before you were ever born. You arenotrelated.”
My stomach cramps. O’Connell. O’Connell. It can’t be true. If it were, I’d remember…something, anything. Wouldn’t I?
“We think our mother found out that Terra was blackmailing Clover’s parents—that’s why they were at ROS in the first place. But they weren’t there for long before their accident.” Grant’s using a tone that’s best suited for a children’s show about sharing. “We also found the original accident report. It showed that their daughter, Calla O’Connell, was in the car at the time.”
The air in the room evaporates, leaving behind thick, cloying stickiness that clings to my skin.
Calla. Dahlia. Brooks.
“We think the records were forged to pronounce you dead alongside your parents,” Grant says. “Just before our mother became ill, she found a witness account of you being removed from the vehicle…by Terra.”
I was in the car.
I was in the car when my parents died, and I don’t remember any of it.
Calla. The name had hit me hard when Terra said it. Like a last breath that wouldn’t fully reach my lungs.
Am I Calla O’Connell?
“Our mother was best friends with Dahlia growing up,” Chase explains. “And she had her suspicions that Terra was in love with Brooks, but he had chosen Dahlia, your mother, when they were teenagers. That’s why Terra latched on to our uncle Edward—but never let go of her idealization of Brooks. By thetime your parents died, our mom had already used her position in the family to force her brother Edward—Valen’s father—out of ROS and away from Terra, so she had no one to put eyes on you. But then…”
“Then I fell in love with a little girl with sad eyes,” Valen says gruffly.
“Calla,” I echo the name, but all it recalls is a sharp pain deep in my chest. “I always knew Terra hated my mother, but I’m the reason Terra hated Vivi too.”
Valen frowns, and I continue. “From Terra’s perspective, Vivi was the last person standing in the way of the life she wanted. The power. The money. She blamed Vivi for taking your dad away from her and ROS before he died, then she took you too. According to Grant, Vivi was also trying to protect me. Terra said as much at the tree. Whatever Terra wanted me for, Vivi was attempting to stop her.”
“But why not just turn her over to the authorities when Vivian shut down ROS? She had a contact within the FBI, and she must have had enough ammunition to put her away,” Chief says. “That’s who Grant’s been working with, right?”
“I don’t think she could without endangering one or all of us,” Grant says. “It all comes back to whatever information Terra has.”
“Exactly,” Roman says.
“Our mother believed that if something happened to Terra, whatever Terra knew would be delivered to the wrong hands.” Grant stands. Pacing must be a family trait. “Our mother had been paying for her silence and depending on Miriam to control her, but that’s all we know so far. Mom went to great lengths to keep this from us—it’s been nearly impossible to decipher it all.”
