Chapter 6: The Daughter They Always Protected
Ryan reached the corridor first, but Paige slammed the fire door behind her.
Dad hurried after him while Natalie called hospital security from the room phone.
Mom picked up the torn half of Grandma’s letter.
“What did it say?” I asked.
Her thumb moved across the faded ink.
“Your grandmother changed the trust.”
Celeste held her piece beside Mom’s.
“Not ownership.
Control.”
“What does that mean?”
“If either sister tried to force a sale without the other’s consent, her management rights passed to you.”
Mom stared at me.
“Paige knew.”
Celeste nodded.
“That is why she needed your signature.”
The orthopedic surgeon entered before I could answer.
“Marissa, the new scan shows a significant tear,” he said.
“We should operate tomorrow morning.”
My mouth went dry.
“What happens if I wait?”
“You risk losing more movement.”
Mom touched the rail.
“She’ll do it.”
I pulled my hand away.
“Stop deciding for me.”
“I’m your mother.”
“You used that title when you needed my signature.
You didn’t use it when I needed protection.”
She flinched.
“I made a mistake.”
“No.
You made choices.
Every time Paige hurt me, you called it a mistake so she wouldn’t face the choice.”
Mom’s tears fell onto Grandma’s letter.
“I was afraid she would cut me out of her life.”
“So you helped her cut me out of mine.”
My voice broke.
Pain tightened through my shoulder, and I began shaking.
Dad returned and moved to my left side.
“They lost Paige near the parking garage.”
“I can’t do this anymore,” I whispered.
“I can’t be the daughter who gets hurt because everyone is afraid of the other one.”
He sat beside me and held my hand.
“You won’t be.”
“You said that when she ruined my graduation dinner.”
“I know.”
“You said it when she took Grandma’s necklace.”
“I know.”
“You always knew afterward.”
Dad bowed his head.
“That is the ugliest truth I have ever had to say out loud.”
Brooke stood at the foot of the bed.
“I knew before the wedding,” she said.
“Not everything—but enough.
Paige showed me the message about teaching you a lesson.
I stayed quiet because I wanted to remain maid of honor.”
I wiped my face with my left hand.
“Why are you still here?”
“Because leaving would be one more cowardly thing.”
She took a small plastic bag from her purse.
Inside was a memory card.
Ryan stared at it.
“The photographer’s card?”
“A copy.
He duplicated it before giving you the original.”
Ryan checked his pocket.
“Paige took my jacket during the chase.”
Dad looked toward the door.
“Then she has the original.”
“But not this,” Brooke said.
My phone rang on the tray.
Paige’s name filled the screen.
Dad reached for it.
“No.” I pressed speaker with my left thumb.
“What do you want?”
Paige’s breathing came fast.
“Tell them you consented to the joke and the sale.”
“I didn’t.”
“If you don’t, I’ll send the recording to every news outlet with Ryan’s company named in it.”
Ryan leaned closer.
“The recording clears Marissa.”
“Not the version I have.”
“You altered it,” Brooke said.
Paige went silent.
I looked at Brooke.
“How did you know?”
“Because she made me help edit audio for her campaign video last year.”
Paige laughed through the speaker.
“Careful, Brooke.
I still have every message you sent me.”
“Release them.”
“You’ll lose your job.”
“Then I lose it.”
Paige’s voice sharpened.
“Marissa, sign the papers by midnight, or I make you look like the jealous sister who staged all of this.”
The call ended.
Ryan checked the time.
“She has six hours.”
Celeste closed her folder.
“Then we use five of them.”
My phone lit up again, but this time the message came from an unknown number.
May you like
A video began playing.
It showed me standing beside the pool—and in the edited version, I was smiling as Paige pushed me.
