"The only reason I let you raise Stephen was because it was her dying wish. She wouldn't entrust him to anyone else. But you, don't even think about claiming him as yours."
His lips hovered dangerously close to the top of my thigh, but this time, I did not surrender.
I shoved him away.
"Mr. Davis, I won’t wear the dress, and I won’t be attending the banquet."
"My adoptive mother passed away today. Our contract is void. I’m leaving."
The moment the words left my lips, the heat in Carlos’s gaze turned to ice.
He rose to his feet, his expression darkening like a brewing storm.
"She was just an adoptive mother, no blood ties, nothing. If she’s dead, then she’s dead. Are you really going to mourn an outsider? Don't forget your place. The family cannot afford such humiliation!"
"Stephen may not have come from your womb, but he carries half your blood. You raised him for seven years, and now you think you can just walk away?" He let out a cold laugh. "Dahlia, you are unbelievably selfish."
His words cut deeper than I wanted to admit.
My status? What was I, really?
An illegitimate daughter, hidden in the shadows of my family name?
A mere caretaker hired to raise a child that was never mine?