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?

“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

frantic gleam in her eyes. “That’s enough. Don’t go around saying stuff like that anymore.

beginning! He only got close to us for us to lower our guard!” “What?” He crashed to the floor in a miserable heap. Bewildered, he started

plans had been set in motion without Amelia and anyone else in the Olson Family realizing 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

though having gone insane, he roared and howled, 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 the assault that rumor had it he wouldn’t be the same person even after treatment. Unable

In order to celebrate Laura’s discharge from the hospital, Joshua had been released from custody as well. After having 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

as 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