A False Heiress's Guide to Love and Power

Karen’s tone was as flat as a calm lake, utterly devoid of emotion. She was simply stating the facts.

Seventeen years. For seventeen straight years, Karen had never spoken to Ileana in this way.

Ileana’s face changed, her smile freezing awkwardly on her lips, teetering on the edge of tears.

“After they sent me out of the country overnight, I changed my phone and number. Mom, you know I’ve never been good at remembering Dad’s and my brothers‘ numbers. There must be some misunderstanding. How could they possibly block

me?”

She forced a laugh, but only she knew–Karen wasn’t wrong.

When Ileana couldn’t find anyone at the old apartment, she had tried calling them, one after another. She dialed nearly everyone except for Ivan Morton.

At first, she thought maybe she was out of credit, but her phone worked fine otherwise. Then she suspected her phone was broken, so she handed a hundred bucks to the current tenant and borrowed his. This time, the call connected quickly–but as soon as Brendan Morton and Ethan Morton heard her voice, they slammed the phone down. Zachary Morton and Liam’s numbers would ring, but no one ever picked up.

That’s when it hit her: she’d been blocked.

to believe it, so she kept dialing, one number after another, until eventually, even the

a neighbor she vaguely

your daughter, aren’t I? The daughter you raised for seventeen years–could you really throw

had barely finished her words when Brendan’s voice rang out behind her, cutting like a

a grocery bag in one

09:56

Chapter

“Dad!” she cried.

Holdings. As for me, I do have a daughter–her name is Alessia, and she’s standing right here beside me. Anyone else? I

words were blunt, every syllable

the daughter you raised for

a single meal. And what did you do? You had a full plate and still went looking for

in shock, as if she couldn’t believe even

finger at her. “It was Alessia, wasn’t it? Dad, she’s lying to you!