A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust by Sally Garcia

Ulysses's face darkened instantly.

What Calliope meant was obvious-she was pretty much saying they weren't her real family, and she wanted to have Christmas Eve dinner with someone else.

Just now, she'd made it clear Quentin and the others were more important. Now she was doubling down, saying she'd only spend Christmas Eve with them? "Aren't we your family too?" Ulysses followed Calliope, unwilling to give up.

"To me, 'family' means the people who actually care about me," Calliope replied, her tone calm but firm. "People who hurt me, judge me, dislike me, or try to use me, they're not real family. And honestly? I don't need family like that."

As she finished, the elevator doors slid open. Calliope walked in without looking back.

Franco hurried in after her, nodding emphatically. "My boss is right. You gotta choose your family, just like you'd pick friends. Blood isn't everything."

Ulysses tried to follow, but Valerian grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

Valerian's face was stone-cold. "Forget it. Don't say another word. She's stubborn as a mule. She's not going to listen to us, no matter what."

in his chest. He felt Calliope slipping away from them more and more each

messed up?" he

never really done anything wrong. She'd just

one, always making a scene, so they'd assumed Lisette was

he thought about it, the

their real little sister, not Lisette. Was it right to treat Lisette better than Calliope? Franco's words echoed in

embarrassed, Ulysses couldn't shake

they been making a huge mistake? Had they been hurting Calliope all

voice icy and unyielding. "She's the one in

embarrassed him in front of the whole company. Calliope had gone too far. She

she liked those other brothers so much, she could stick with them. They still had Lisette, and honestly, wasn't Lisette way

wanting to say something, but he bit his

...

the elevator down and