Coolest Girl in Town

And I never even got to see my own biological parents. Am I just not good enough? She then thought about what Joshua had said—that she was only adopted, and no matter how close of a bond she and her grandparents might share, they were ultimately separated by the lack of blood relation. If it all came down to choosing between her and Joshua, there was no telling whether Robin and Laura would or wouldn’t pick Joshua. Elise would always be the one left behind; abandonment was a fate she had been born into. “Everyone is different,” Alexander prompted meaningfully, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Maybe,” she murmured as she spun and headed for the door. At the sight of this, he rose from the couch and asked, “Where are you going?” “To save Jeremy.” She had changed her mind; regardless of whether Amelia would survive the ordeal, she would still spare the woman’s son. It didn’t take long for Alexander and Elise to arrive at the hospital. Under Elise’s expert skills in acupuncture, Jeremy regained consciousness from his coma, though his last memory was the one from the other day when he had badgered Elise. Now that he was looking at her the moment he opened his eyes, his hand flew to his neck as he demanded warily, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Your mother’s been hospitalized,” Elise explained icily. “What? What the hell did you do to my mom?!” he roared as he bolted upright in bed. “You little b*tch! I swear I’ll make you pay if anything happens to my mom!” She narrowed her eyes and shot him a dangerous look. “Keep saying that if you want to be a comatose forever.” Jeremy knew better than to challenge her, so he shut up like she told him to. When Elise left, he hurried to look into Amelia’s whereabouts. By the time he found her room, Amelia was already awake. “Mom! Are you alright? Why would you do such a thing?

this. I’ll make them pay!” he cried, throwing himself down in the seat next to her bed as he sobbed pathetically. He might be an incorrigible troublemaker, but he still loved his mother dearly. “There, now; you’re awake and that’s all that matters. I’ll be fine as long as you are, my child,” a weak Amelia commented. “How are you ‘fine’ right now? Look at the state of you! I won’t just sit here and take this without a fight. I’ll find that person who did this to you and make them

kill her myself, I’ll hire someone to do it!” “Stop!” Panic settled over Amelia as she reached up and clutched Jeremy’s shirt, drawing him closer with a frantic gleam in her eyes. “That’s enough. Don’t go around saying stuff like that anymore. That woman is someone we can’t afford to

to lower our guard!” “What?” He crashed to the floor in a miserable heap. Bewildered, he started to recall everything that had culminated into this. Now that he thought about it,

Everything had been a ploy to begin with. How terrifying can one woman be? Jeremy thought with a shiver. Presently, Amelia let out a sigh. She stared at the ceiling with a faraway gaze as she added, “It was our fault for pushing Elise’s limits. We need to know our place now and we have to realize that our glory days have come to an end.” “No! I won’t do it! I won’t go down like this!” Jeremy couldn’t accept the fact that he had gone from riches to rags as soon as he

then rushed out of the hospital the same way Amelia had earlier at the clubhouse. A few days later, news of him getting beaten into a pulp headlined the entertainment gossip column. He suffered such severe brain damage from

not seen or heard from Joshua for the past few days, Maureen was ecstatic to see her husband return and the couple staked out a corner to talk about something in secret. Elise was helping Laura into a seat when she saw Jeanie sighing. Upon sensing that Jeanie might be in low spirits, Elise followed her into the

she heard Elise’s voice and quickly dabbed her tears. “I-It’s nothing. I’m fine.” While Jeanie thought she was being subtle, Elise actually saw through her gestures and grew even more worried. As she approached the older woman, Elise said gently, “Mrs. Anderson, you know about my being adopted by the Sinclairs, and that I’m not biologically related to my grandparents, but that doesn’t change the fact