He gently comforted Chloe, who shrank back whenever she saw me, his expression tender and indulgent—yet his tone toward me turned colder.
“Emma, Chloe was kidnapped as a child saving me. Since then, she’s never been able to leave my side. Yes, we’re close, but that doesn’t justify you lashing out at her.”
“She’s innocent, childlike. It’s only your filthy heart that twists everything.”
He spoke with righteous indignation, but I found his words absurd and laughable.
They were supposed to be adopted siblings in name only, yet they kissed and embraced before my eyes, their actions shameless. And when I dared say, “Mind your identity,” it became “verbal abuse.”
“You could have spoken to me beforehand. Why did you have to threaten the Carter family with thirty years of cooperation? Don’t you understand what state my family is in right now…”
I opened my mouth bitterly to explain, but Daniel Brooks cut me off, his face full of disapproval toward me.
“Emma! If I hadn’t brought up cooperation, would anyone in the Carter family tolerate Chloe Miller? Even you speak to her however you please. If that’s the case, wouldn’t the rest of your family bully her to death?”