Chapter Severed Ties
Chapter 1 Severed Ties
“Celeste, you’ve been picking on Chloe ever since she came into our lives. You’ve hurt her in so many ways, and honestly, Mom and I have had enough.
“But pushing her down the stairs today? That’s crossing the line! So just leave. There’s no place for you in the Sinclair family.”
Celeste Sinclair sat nearby, hearing Grant Sinclair’s cold words but choosing to tune him out. She kept focused on her game on her phone.
Frustrated, Grant glanced over at her, yanked her phone out of her hand, and slammed it onto the floor. “Celeste, I told you to pack your things and go back to your birth parents. Are you even listening?”
Celeste picked up the broken phone but continued to play with it anyway. Grant was getting more and more annoyed.” Celeste!
As he reached for her phone again, the word “Victory” flashed on her screen–the final title match that she had finally won. With a deep breath, Celeste tucked her phone away and stood up to face Grant. “This place is just full of schemes and sneaky moves. Even if you don’t kick me out, I’m ready to walk.”
Since Chloe Sinclair, the real daughter of the Sinclair family, was found three months ago, the whole family had turned against Celeste, the adopted daughter.
Chloe was doing everything she could to push Celeste out and reclaim her title as the only Sinclair daughter.
Celeste wanted to leave three months ago, but she had decided to stick around to take care of her older brother, Logan Sinclair.
Now that Logan was almost fully recovered, she felt there was no reason to stay with the Sinclairs any longer.
Grabbing the bag she had packed earlier, Celeste walked away without glancing back at Grant.
As she reached the door, she ran into Eleanor and Chloe, who were coming back from the hospital.
Eleanor had never liked Celeste. To her, Celeste was a slacker with the lowest grades who cared more about socializing than anything else.
A year ago, after Celeste got into a car accident and it turned out she wasn’t Eleanor’s real daughter, Eleanor abandoned her while she was injured and started searching for her real daughter.
Three months back, she finally found Chloe. Chloe was sweet and generous, a genuinely good person. But once she joined the Sinclair family, she faced bullying and mistreatment from Celeste.
Frustrated, Eleanor tried to track down Celeste’s biological parents to get rid of her, but Logan stood his ground and refused to let Celeste go. So, Eleanor had no choice but to let Celeste stay.
After Celeste’s latest stunt, where she almost hurt Chloe badly, Eleanor and Grant decided it was time to kick Celeste out for good, especially before Logan came home from the hospital.
As Celeste was leaving, Eleanor looked at her in pure disgust, her gaze sharpening when she noticed the mask on Celeste’s face.
Celeste had been sporting that silver mask ever since her nasty car accident. Every time Eleanor caught a glimpse of it, she felt a little queasy.
Honestly, without the mask, Celeste’s face looked even scarier. Eleanor had accidentally seen it about a year ago, and it was covered in deep scars that twisted and curved like a centipede.
Just thinking about it sent shivers down Eleanor’s spine.
Chloe noticed her staring at Celeste in silence and decided to break the tension. Leaning on her cane, she asked, “Are you thinking about leaving the Sinclair family and going back to your birth parents, Celeste?”
Celeste turned to her, stopped in her tracks by the question. Before she could respond, she watched as Chloe pulled some cash out of her bag and handed it over.
“Theard things are pretty tough for your family right now. Your little brother is sick, and your parents are really struggling.”
Chloe said.
“It looks like you’ll be the one holding everything together. Honestly, I felt for you, so I wanted to help. Here’s some money- hope it makes things a bit easier,” she said.
Celeste glanced at the cash in her hand and chuckled–it was barely anything.
With a laid–back attitude, she said, “If you’re really worried about my finances, why not just spot me hundred of grand? Honestly, a small amount like this just makes me think you’re being cheap.”
Chloe had been eager to embarrass Celeste with the money, but she didn’t expect Celeste to ho co think
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Chapter 1 Severed Ties
Chloe pursed her lips and tried to maintain a straight face. “Celeste, I’d like to give you hundreds of grand, but I don’t have that much cash on me.”
“That’s okay,” Celeste replied. “You can transfer the money online.”
After saying that, Celeste quickly pulled out her cell phone and handed it to Chloe so she could transfer the cash.
Chloe’s expression was a picture. She smiled, but it felt a bit forced, and her mouth twitched like she was trying to hold back a reaction. ‘This woman is unbelievable. How can she be this shameless?‘ she thought.
“Celeste, 1-” She opened her mouth.
Before Chloe could finish, Celeste cut her off. “If you can’t afford it, don’t act all generous just to show off. It doesn’t impress me.”
Frustrated, Chloe fished her phone out of her purse and transferred 300 grand to Celeste. “I could easily make that much with just a single commercial. But let’s be real–you’d probably be stuck hustling on the street to earn that amount, right?”
Celeste checked her account and tucked her phone away. “You sure seem to know a lot about street hustling,” she shot back. “Is that what you did for a living?”
“You’re so full of shit!” Chloe said, her face turning bright red with embarrassment.
Eleanor watched the exchange, visibly furious. “Celeste! How can you talk to Chloe like that? You need to apologize right now, or you can forget about ever returning to the Sinclair family!”
Since they left her alone in the hospital with a life–threatening condition a year ago, Celeste hadn’t felt like she belonged with them.
Facing death opened her eyes to a lot of truths: no matter what she did for the Sinclair family, they’d always looked down on her. So she wouldn’t bother trying to win their favors anymore.
It just wasn’t worth her time.
Celeste flashed a grin at Eleanor and said, “Don’t worry about it. From now on, I’m done with the Sinclair family – even if you beg me.”
Eleanor sniffled and shot some curses at Celeste, but Celeste shrugged it off and walked away, leaving them to it. From that moment on, the Sinclairs were no longer part of her life.
Just as she stepped away, a rare, vintage Corniche rolled up in front of her. The window slowly slid down, revealing a familiar face.
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