Chapter 3

Cara Barlow POV:

Leo' s sudden arrival was a chaotic interruption. He didn' t see me, his small body barreling forward with the single-minded focus of a distressed child. He crashed into my side, knocking me off balance.

The mango mousse cake flew from my hand, splattering across the front of my borrowed silk gown. The impact sent a fresh wave of pain through my still-healing leg, and I cried out, grabbing the table for support.

I didn' t care about the dress. I didn' t care about the sticky mess. All I felt was a profound sense of relief. But as I tried to wipe the cream from my dress, a sharp sting made me gasp. A small shard from the porcelain bird the night before had been embedded in the fabric, and it had just reopened the wound on my palm.

Blood began to seep through the white gauze, staining the emerald silk a dark, ugly brown. My body swayed, and a strong hand gripped my arm to steady me. It was Ambrose.

"You didn' t even bother to get your hand stitched, did you?" he hissed, his voice a low reprimand. His grip was painfully tight.

For the first time, I didn't flinch. I didn't lean into his touch. I pulled my arm away, the rejection stark and absolute. A flicker of surprise crossed his face, but it was quickly gone.

"Mommy, look," Leo said, oblivious to the drama. He held up a single, glittering earring. "I told you I could only find one."

Katharine took the earring from him. As she turned, the diamond and emerald teardrop caught the light, and a gasp tore from my throat. My eyes widened, my pupils shrinking to pinpricks.

It couldn' t be.

Without thinking, I lunged forward. "Where did you get that?" I demanded, my voice raw and shaking.

Katharine' s eyes widened in feigned innocence. "What are you talking about, Cara? This is mine."

"You' re a liar!" I shrieked, the accusation ripping from a place of deep, primal fury. "You' re a thief! That' s my mother' s earring!"

The guests around us fell silent, their eyes wide with shock and morbid curiosity.

"This was my adoptive mother' s," I said, my voice trembling with a mixture of grief and rage. "It' s the only thing I have left of her."

I snatched the earring from her hand before she could react, my fingers closing around the familiar, cool metal. The surrounding whispers grew louder, turning into snickers of derision.

"Her mother' s? That poor girl is delusional."

"That' s a Macdonald family heirloom! It was part of Katharine' s wedding trousseau."

My blood ran cold. Wedding trousseau? I turned the earring over in my palm. There, on the back of the setting, was a tiny, almost invisible inscription I had never noticed before. It was a single, elegant 'K' .

K for Katharine.

My mind reeled. The resemblance everyone commented on. The fact that this earring, my mother' s most prized possession, was identical to a Macdonald family heirloom. Leo' s face, which held a faint, ghostly echo of my own features.

A horrifying, impossible thought began to form in my mind, a puzzle clicking into place with sickening certainty.

Katharine' s face had gone from feigned innocence to a mask of pure fury. She realized what I was thinking.

"Give that back to me!" she snarled, lunging for the earring.

We grappled, a clumsy, desperate struggle. Our hands locked on the tiny piece of jewelry, and we stumbled together, our bodies tangled.

We fell.

Right toward the towering, multi-tiered centerpiece cake, a monstrous confection supported by a hidden framework of metal rods.

"Katharine!" Ambrose yelled.

"Mom!" screamed Leo.

In that split second, Ambrose moved. Without a moment' s hesitation, he threw himself forward, his arms wrapping around Katharine, twisting his body to shield hers from the fall. He cradled her, his priority absolute and unquestionable.

He let me go.

I crashed into the cake alone. The world exploded into a mess of frosting, sponge, and agonizing pain. One of the sharp metal support rods pierced my side, the impact stealing the air from my lungs.

Through a haze of pain, I saw Ambrose helping Katharine to her feet, his hands fluttering over her, checking for injuries. He didn't even glance in my direction.

"Are you satisfied now, Cara?" he spat, his voice laced with venom. "Causing a scene, injuring Katharine... Get out of my sight."

He turned his back on me, leading Katharine and Leo away from the disaster zone.

Humiliation burned hotter than the pain in my side. I could feel the eyes of every person in that room on me, their faces a mixture of pity and contempt. With a strength I didn't know I possessed, I pulled myself out of the wreckage of the cake, the metal rod tearing at my flesh as I moved. I ignored the pain, the blood, the sticky frosting clinging to my hair and dress. I held the earring tight in my fist and walked out of that hall, my head held high.

My first stop was not home, but a 24-hour clinic. I handed the doctor the earring, a lock of my hair, and Katharine' s name.

"I need a DNA test," I said, my voice eerily calm.

It was long past midnight when I finally dragged my battered body back to the Aguilar mansion. The house was dark and silent, but a single lamp was lit in the study. Ambrose was waiting for me, his face like a thundercloud.

"Your behavior tonight was disgraceful," he said, his voice dangerously low. "You embarrassed me. You embarrassed this family."

I said nothing. There was nothing left to say. The man I loved believed I was a monster. The woman who might be my mother was trying to destroy me.

"You will be confined to your room until you learn some humility," he decreed, his voice the cold, final judgment of a god. "You will not leave this house."

He was punishing me. Locking me away.

The pain in my side flared, white-hot and blinding. My legs gave out, and I crumpled to the floor. The last thing I saw before darkness consumed me was a notification flashing on my phone screen.

It was from the DNA lab.

My results would be ready in a few days.