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."

his chest. He felt

might've messed up?" he asked, uncertainty creeping

scheming against Lisette. But looking back, he realized she'd never really done

assumed Lisette was

more he thought about it,

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

Ulysses couldn't shake the feeling that something was very

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

anything wrong!" Valerian snapped, his voice icy and unyielding. "She's the

today had been, Valerian's anger boiled over. She'd embarrassed him in front of the whole company. Calliope had gone too far. She didn't care about their feelings at all. She was just petty and vindictive.

ignore Calliope from now on If she liked those other brothers so much, she could stick with them. They still had Lisette, and

bit his tongue. In

...

Calliope rode the elevator down and handed out