Chapter 1 - SOPHIE COMES FIRST
Vanessa Miller grabbed the skillet before Rachel understood what was happening.
She swung.
The metal struck Mia on the side of the head.
“MOMMY!”
Mia staggered but stayed standing.
Vanessa raised the skillet again.
“Vanessa!”
Too late.
The second swing knocked Mia backward against the dining chair.
She burst into tears.
Rachel ran.
“ARE YOU INSANE?!”
She pulled Mia behind her, then scooped the four-year-old into her arms.
Mia clung to Rachel’s sweater.
Vanessa pointed at Mia’s pale-blue floral dress.
“She copied Sophie!”
Rachel stared at her.
“She’s four!”
Linda Carter stormed forward from the head of the table.
“I told you to change her!”
Rachel looked at her mother.
“You’re defending this?”
Linda pointed at six-year-old Sophie.
“SOPHIE COMES FIRST!”
Something inside Rachel snapped.
She handed Mia carefully to the chair beside her, stepped forward, and slapped Linda.
The room froze.
Vanessa went white.
Linda touched her cheek.
Rachel pointed toward Sophie.
“She’s not even your biological granddaughter!”
Silence.
Sophie stared at her mother.
“What does that mean?”
Vanessa’s face collapsed.
“Rachel, shut up.”
Rachel looked at Linda.
“You made Mia feel second her whole life for a lie you already knew.”
Linda whispered:
“Not here.”
Rachel laughed.
“Why? Because the truth ruins Sunday dinner?”
Linda stepped closer.
Her voice dropped.
“You don’t know the whole story.”
Rachel froze.
“What story?”
Linda looked at Sophie.
Then at Vanessa.
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And said:
“Rachel, Sophie is the reason this family survived.”
