A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust by Sally Garcia

"You know who I am now?" Calliope looked at Ulysses, a sudden thought crossing her mind.

If he knew she was that screenwriter, then maybe it all made sense. She knew he'd always been interested in those scripts. If he was just sucking up to her for the sake of getting his hands on them, well, that wouldn't be all that surprising.

"What?" Ulysses blinked, caught off guard. "Callie, I know I haven't always treated you right. I probably haven't acted much like a real brother, but I get it now. In this world, you're the only real sister I have."

"I regret the way I treated you before. I'm sorry. I don't expect you to forgive me. I just hope you'll still think of me as your brother. Callie..."

He looked at her, his eyes full of sincerity, like he truly meant it.

Oddly enough, that just made Calliope even more surprised.

She stared back at him, her expression cold. "You're not my brother."

Her voice was ice.

They didn't share a drop of blood, and she had nothing to do with Ulysses. He wasn't her brother, that was simply the truth.

"If I don't like something, there's no need to pretend otherwise. You've gone all out for the company, haven't you? You really are an actor, Ulysses. I'll give you that, your performance is top-notch."

face fell, his expression twisting

just putting on a show. She'd decided he wasn't sincere, that his apology didn't mean a

words stung, and a knot twisted in his

could see it now, Calliope really didn't see any of them as her brothers anymore. She used to

It was clear: she'd changed. She wanted nothing to do with them

thought Calliope was just playing hard to get, pulling some clever trick to

now, he was

affection in her eyes. It was like they were strangers, people she'd already

deep ache in his chest. He glanced around at the

didn't seem to

only

who realized they were about to lose Calliope for

always found her annoying before. So why did it hurt so much

something irreplaceable

couldn't shake

back.