Chapter 4
Beatrice warned, “Quinlyn, what are you up to? Yalena’s your sister. If you dare scheme and make her leave the Guzman family to suffer with me, I’ll beat you up!”
Quinlyn winced, brows furrowed. At first, she was shocked, and then she found it funny after she snapped out of it.
In front of Quinlyn’s car, Evelyn asked Yalena with concern where she didn’t feel well. While inside the car, Beatrice, Quinlyn’s foster mother, wanted to strangle her, only caring about keeping her own daughter’s privileged life. Quinlyn felt like trash, unwanted and hated.
Quinlyn tilted her head, smiling a bit. “What are you talking about?” She pulled Beatrice’s hand away more firmly. Then she stood up straight, chin up. “Why scheme against her? Isn’t the Guzman residence my home?”
“Nonsense! That’s Yalena’s place.” Beatrice’s wrinkled face showed no love for Quinlyn. But then, as if she remembered something, her voice got softer.
“Quinlyn, be good now. Look, I never treated you badly, and you’ve grown up so pretty. Now you’ve found your real parents who love you. Yalena can’t do much; she’s been spoiled since she was a kid. You’ll help Mom take care of her, right?” Beatrice coaxed.
Beatrice’s talk wouldn’t trick a toddler. Quinlyn pulled her hand free and rolled up her sleeve to show a bruise. She didn’t flinch, just let the sleeve fall, her face unchanged.
Quinlyn saw Graham coming and smirked. “Yeah, I know Yalena’s spoiled, so I brought you all here. When Dad gets back, your family will be together again.” Then she opened the car door and left.
Graham took them inside. “Quinlyn, you have two brothers. I called them back. You all should get along.”
Hearing that, Quinlyn just nodded but said nothing. She scoffed in her heart, ‘Get along? No way!’
She didn’t care about holding back to be liked. Maybe she’d help the man she called father teach the kids a lesson and mix things up a bit.
*****
The Guzman family didn’t say a word about the outfits of the three visitors, but their faces said it all.
Especially Yarden-he left black footprints as he walked and sat on the spotless white leather sofa. When he got up, there was a yellow stain. Every detail showed the truth.
Even the narrator said, [The Guzman servants were super curious about the three unexpected guests. But seeing how they dressed, especially Beatrice and Yarden, their hopes for the found daughter dropped. No decent kid could come from that family. Yalena was way too elegant.]
Quinlyn heard the narrator’s robotic voice and laughed. She had struggled to grow up and had no time for their so-called upper-class behavior.
A maid came to Quinlyn. “Miss, come with me. Mrs. Guzman wants me to take you to clean up.”
Quinlyn nodded. She glanced at Yarden and Beatrice squirming on the couch, and then looked away and followed.
The maid took Quinlyn to the guest bathroom and pulled out a dress. “This is Yalena’s. You’re about her size, so wear it for now. When Mrs. Guzman is free, she’ll take you shopping herself.”
The maid stopped there. After all, clothes weren’t a big deal; a quick call could have sorted them out beforehand. But they hadn’t been told.
“Zoe, what are you saying? When has she ever seen clothes that nice in her whole life?” A voice cracking with puberty
1/3
shouted.
Quinlyn knew right away from the voice; it was her second brother, Yancy Guzman.
The oldest brother, Chancey Guzman, was about twenty-eight, solid and grown-up. He’d never say stuff like that.
Being an adult, Chancey didn’t show his favoritism openly, but his silent favoritism was always there-more obvious than Yancy’s. Chancey had made Quinlyn feel like she had someone on her side until the cruel truth hit her.
The Narrator butted in, [Yancy stared at Quinlyn and felt something off. He thought she looked so much like them and seemed so harmless. But she already picked on Yalena and she walked in like she owned everything. He needed to teach her a lesson.]
Quinlyn jerked her head up, surprised. She studied Yancy. He wasn’t bad-looking. He had that rich-kid confidence. His hair was cut short, the ends curling a bit; it was a Guzman trait she shared.
When she’d first come back in her previous life, Yancy had been the worst.
He took clothes that weren’t hers and tossed them instead of letting her wear them, banned her from the second floor where the siblings lived, stopped her from talking to him at school, and wouldn’t let her call herself a Guzman in public.
Her staring made Yancy snap. “What’re you looking at?” he shouted, rushing over to grab Yalena’s skirt. “You can’t wear this! Just got here and you’re already stealing Yalena’s stuff. Yalena’s always gonna be my sister.” Then he stormed out, slamming
the door.
Quinlyn stared at the door. She remembered when she first came; Yancy had said the same thing. She had cracked under the pressure. She hadn’t even been good enough to wear fancy clothes. She had asked herself, ‘Isn’t this my home? Isn’t Yarden my brother?’
She thought it over but couldn’t figure it out. Later, wearing the maid’s daughter’s clothes, she had sat awkwardly at the table. She watched Yalena in her fluffy princess dress, sweet-talking the parents.
Zoe looked worried. “Quinlyn… If it’s okay, my daughter has spare clothes here. It’s clean. You can wear these for now.”
Quinlyn snapped out of it and rushed out.
Zoe shouted and chased after Quinlyn but couldn’t catch her.
Quinlyn hurried upstairs when no one was looking. Instead of going into Yancy’s room, she went straight to Yalena’s door.
The door was cracked open. The conversation inside was clear. Evelyn was still comforting Yalena. “Oh, my sweet girl. I promise I will only care for you from now on. Okay? No one’s taking Mama away.”
Yancy said, “Exactly. See, I got your dress back now.”
Yalena sobbed, “Yancy… don’t do that. Quinlyn has nothing to wear.”
Yancy insisted, “No! Your stuff is yours. She can buy clothes later. But she can’t touch your things.”
Evelyn coaxed, “Yes, Yancy’s totally right. You’re our family’s treasure. No one should hurt you. Come on, stop crying. The cook made your favorite ravioli. Let’s go have dinner now.”
Outside, Quinlyn listened to their conversation, feeling calm. But hearing it again, she couldn’t help but feel it was funny.
They thought they’d protected Yalena. But they didn’t know how Quinlyn felt when she found that dress in the trash the next day. That was when Quinlyn learned: Some things weren’t meant for her to touch. They would rather throw the dress than give it to her.
11
2/3
