"Are you sure about this?" Mia asked, leaning against Savannah’s room door with her arms crossed.
Savannah zipped up her suitcase and gave her a reassuring smile.
"I’m sure. I can’t get what I need by staying here. If I want to win, I have to play the game on their turf."
Mia sighed and pulled Savannah into a bone crushing hug.
"I hate everything that is happening in your life right now," she muttered. "But I trust you. And if your shit family starts acting crazy again, you walk right out. I don’t care if it’s three in the morning. Call me, and I’ll come get you."
"I will," Savannah smiled softly. "Thank you, Mia. For everything."
The taxi ride back to the Quinn mansion felt strangely long. It didn’t feel like she was going home but like going on a secret mission.
Aa soon as Savannah pushed open the front door, the familiar air of the house hit her. She dragged her suitcase inside and found everyone already waiting in the living room.
Her father stood by the fireplace holding a glass of whiskey in his hand. He didn’t smile or greet her.
"I hope you’ve spent your time away thinking about the mess you made with the Moore family," Richard said coldly. "And I expect you to start preparing your apology for the Locke banquet. Our family can’t afford another one of your embarrassments."
Wow! How touching!!
Before Savannah could answer, Cooper snorted. He was sitting on the sofa, busy with his phone.
"Look who decided to crawl back,"Cooper mocked. "Couldn’t survive in the real world for more than a few days, huh? I guess you realized nobody cares about you outside these walls either."
Savannah ignored him. She was used to Cooper repeating whatever their father said.
"Savannah!"
Celeste rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her.
"I’m so glad you’re back," she cried. "I was so worried about you! And don’t worry about what happened. I forgive you for pushing me. We’re sisters, after all. We can move past this."
Savannah stood stiffly with her arms by her sides instead of hugging her back. But over Celeste’s shoulder, she saw her mother.
Diane was standing near the sofa, staring at Savannah. She noticed her tired eyes, the thinner cheeks, and the exhaustion in her body. Slowly, Diane walked forward and gently pushed Celeste aside.
"Mom?" Celeste said, confused.
Diane didn’t answer her. She stopped in front of Savannah and pulled her into a tight hug.
"You look so thin," Diane whispered. "I missed you. I missed you so much."
She pulled back and looked into Savannah’s eyes. Diane’s face was wet with tears.
"Savannah...please," Diane’s voice trembled. "From now on, just don’t do anything that will anger your father, okay? Don’t fight with him or your sister anymore."
Savannah’s heart ached. Her mother was asking her to let herself be trampled on just to keep the peace of the house. But in her eyes, she could see the genuine concern of a mother for her child.
"Okay, Mom," Savannah replied, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I’ll be good from now on."
The next morning, the Quinn dining room was unusually cheerful.
"I was thinking of wearing the light pink dress to the banquet," Celeste said, cutting her pancakes. "Since Madame Eleanor liked traditional elegance, so I don’t want to wear anything too flashy. Also Ansel will introduce me to the extended family after dinner, so I need to look perfect."
"Of course he will," Richard replied immediately. "You’re our lucky star, Celeste. By the end of the month, we’ll be discussing the wedding venue."
Throughout the conversation, Savannah ate quietly. She didn’t say a word.
Let them live in their delusions.
"Celeste...can you pass the butter," Savannah said after a while.
Celeste didn’t hear her. She was too busy looking at a necklace on her phone. Savannah rolled her eyes and reached across the table. As her arm passed in front of Celeste, her fingers brushed the jade pendant around Celeste’s neck.
The familiar warmth rushed through her body once again. Celeste gasped, her fork dropping on her plate. She instinctively grabbed the pendant and glared at Savannah.
"Sorry," Savannah said, pulling her hand back with the butter.
Celeste’s smile immediately returned.
"It’s okay."
But it wasn’t.
At noon, Savannah was reading in the living room when Richard stormed into the house. He slammed his briefcase on the table. His face was red with anger.
"What do you mean they pulled out?" he screamed into his phone. "The Miller project was locked! We had a verbal agreement! How can they just walk away from a twenty million dollar deal just like that?"
The person on the other end hung up.
"Hello? Hello?"
Richard stared at the phone before throwing it against the wall. Diane instantly rushed out of the kitchen.
"Richard, what’s wrong?"
"The Miller project is gone!" he roared. "They backed out at the last second!"
Savannah watched everything silently.
By three in the afternoon, Diane was pacing nervously through the hallway with her phone pressed to her ear. Celeste’s car had broken down in the middle of a deserted road outside the city. It took three hours for a tow truck to bring her home.
When Celeste finally walked through the front door, she was crying. Her dress and shoes were covered in mud.
Wow! That’s a first!!
But the best part came after dinner. Celeste went into the kitchen to pour herself a cup of chamomile tea, muttering about how awful her day had been. Savannah was already there, preparing her own tea.
Celeste reached for the teapot on the stove. The moment she lifted it, the handle cracked. Before she could react, it broke and the boiling water splashed across her hand.
"Ahhh!"
Celeste screamed in pain. The pot fell to the floor and shattered into a hundred pieces, hot water flying everywhere.
The house erupted into chaos. Diane screamed for ice, running towards the freezer. Richard yelled at the maids for not helping Celeste while Cooper ran to get the first aid kit.
Fortunately, Savannah had quickly stepped and and saved herself from the hot water. She looked at Celeste, who was sobbing as Diane wrapped her burned hand in a cold towel.
What is wrong with the lucky daughter suddenly? Is her luck finally running out?
The house finally became quiet late that night. Savannah lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling. She had gotten used to Mia’s lumpy mattress in just a few days and now felt strangely uncomfortable in the room she had grown up in.
Suddenly, she heard a soft creak on the floorboards outside. She looked towards the door and heard the clink of something being put gently on the floor, followed by the sound of retreating footsteps.
Savannah frowned and slipped out of bed. She opened the door and found a bowl of steaming dumplings resting on the carpet.
Her breath hitched. She picked up the bowl, brought it inside, and closed her door. She looked at the dumplings and sat on the floor with her back against the door.
Tears welled in her eyes as she took a bite. It tasted exactly like it had when she was five years old. She remembered sitting on the kitchen counter, swinging her legs while Diane kneaded the dough.
It was before Celeste arrived in their family. Before Savannah’s learned that her worth was measured by how much she was willing to sacrifice.
She cried silently as she ate the dumplings one by one. The dumplings were a painful reminder that her mother still cared about her.
But what was gone was gone. A bowl of dumplings couldn’t undo the heartbreak of a lifetime.
"Miss Savannah," a maid knocked on her door, the next morning. "A parcel has arrived for you."
Savannah opened her eyes lazily and got out of the bed. She took the small box from the maid and closed the door.
There was no name or address.
"Strange!"
Sitting on the edge of the bed, she grabbed a pen from the side table and cut through the tape. There was a phone inside.
"Phone? Why would anyone send me a phone?" she whispered, turning it over.
She pressed the power button. The screen lit up instantly. There were no apps, no call history, and no wallpaper. All she could see was notification for an unread text message. Savannah opened it.
Use only this phone for talking. Answer immediately. Never call first.
~Ansel.
Savannah scoffed, rolling her eyes at the screen.
"Arrogant as always," she muttered. "Even now that we’re partners, he still has to act like a dictator."
But she understood the stakes. She locked the screen, walked over to her dresser and opened the bottom drawer. Inside were her law textbooks from her university days. She lifted the thickest one and slid the phone under it, ensuring it was completely hidden.
Satisfied, she picked up her towel and went to the bathroom for a shower. As she washed her hair, she thought about the apology she had to give at Madame Eleanor’s banquet.
I need to mentally prepare myself for the humiliation.
When she was done, she wrapped the towel around herself and returned to the bedroom, rubbing another towel through her wet hair.
"I need to text Mia..." she mumbled.
Suddenly, she froze. Her heart dropped into her stomach. The bottom drawer of her dresser was open and her textbooks had been pushed aside.
Celeste was sitting on the edge of her bed with the burner phone in her hands.